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Attorney to probe mental illness in Vegas bus shooting case

This photo released by Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department on Sunday, March 26, 2017, shows Rolando Cardenas. A man visiting from Montana was shot on a Las Vegas bus on Saturday before the suspect barricaded himself in the vehicle and shut down the Strip for hours, authorities said Sunday. Cardenas has been accused in the shooting, and he surrendered peacefully after a standoff inside the double-decker bus that lasted more than four hours, police said. (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department via AP) This photo released by Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department on Sunday, March 26, 2017, shows Rolando Cardenas. A man visiting from Montana was shot on a Las Vegas bus on Saturday before the suspect barricaded himself in the vehicle and shut down the Strip for hours, authorities said Sunday. Cardenas has been accused in the shooting, and he surrendered peacefully after a standoff inside the double-decker bus that lasted more than four hours, police said. (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department via AP)

By Associated Press March 29, 2017 1 min read

LAS VEGAS (AP) – A court-appointed attorney says he’ll investigate whether mental illness is a possible defense for a man accused of shooting and killing one man and wounding another on a double-decker transit bus on the Las Vegas Strip last weekend.

Attorney Will Ewing said outside court Wednesday he’ll probe 55-year-old Rolando Cardenas’ competency before a preliminary evidence hearing on April 27.

Police have said Cardenas may have had “mental issues.”

They say Cardenas said he’s unemployed and homeless and fired a handgun Saturday because he felt threatened and wanted to scare a man who sat near him on the second level of the public bus.

Cardenas appeared in court but was not asked to enter a plea to murder, attempted murder, battery and firearm charges. He is being held without bail.