New video purportedly shows Las Vegas stabbing suspect Yoni Barrios begging for his job back just days before carrying out a deadly attack on eight people, two of whom died.
Mr Barrios, who was taken into custody by Las Vegas Metro police on Thursday following the rampage, approached a news camera crew in Los Angeles two days prior begging for help, NBC Los Angeles reported.
The 32-year-old allegedly approached the crew working for Telemundo 52, a sister station of NBC Los Angeles, asking to be filmed. Speaking in Spanish, he said he had lost his job and was living on the streets in the city, about 230 miles from Las Vegas.
“He seemed just like another person asking for help,” Telemundo 58’s camera man told NBC Los Angeles. “It kind of hit me because it reminded me of my son, my son passed at 38 years old and he had similar issues to his so I kinda wanted to help him (Mr Barrios).”
Mr Barrios has since been charged with two counts of murder and six counts of attempted murder for the attack on the Las Vegas strip on Thursday, the police department said.
He is accused of carried out the attack on the 3100 block of the Las Vegas strip with what police called a “deadly weapon”, and what local news outlets reported was a kitchen knife.
Local news reports said the showgirls had been taking pictures with tourists when the attack took place on Thursday morning.
Some of those attacked were showgirls working at a nearby casino, reports said. and were named by the Las Vegas coroner’s office as 47-year-old Brent Allan Hallett and 30-year-old Maris Mareen DiGiovanni, who died of their injuries.
“Maris always saw the best in people, always gave them a chance, and always accepted people for who they were,” the family of DiGiovanni said in a statement to the Associated Press (AP) last week. “... She was a beautiful spirit and soul, and we’ll miss her for the rest of our lives.”
Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said his office was considering a death penalty for Mr Barrios, but that a decision had not yet been taken on Sunday, according to the AP.
It was unclear if Mr Barrios has a lawyer and an arraingment was scheduled for Tuesday.
