Police probe link between suspected Vegas cop-killers and Bundy ranch supporters
Law enforcement officials identified Jerad and Amanda Miller as the suspected shooters who gunned down two police officers and a bystander in Las Vegas.
According to assistant sheriff Kevin McMahill, Jerad Miller and his wife, Amanda, had ideology that was along the lines of "militia and white supremacists."
Las Vegas police say they are looking into whether the two suspects in the shooting deaths of two officers had been at Cliven Bundy's Nevada ranch during a standoff earlier this year. One of the suspects, Jerad Miller is seen on this local television report among supporters of the Nevada rancher speaking to journalists about resisting the feds.
According to neighbor Jessica Anderson, Jerad told her he had been kicked off Cliven Bundy’s ranch during the April protest against the Bureau of Land Management there. Bundy’s wife Carol told the Review-Journal that the shooting was not related to the standoff between ranchers and the federal government.
“I have not seen or heard anything from the militia and others who have came to our ranch that would, in any way, make me think they had an intent to kill or harm anyone,” Carol Bundy said.
Las Vegas shooters Jared & Amanda Miller: pic.twitter.com/G14rGNzWk9
— Annette Ballester (@abytw) June 9, 2014
Neighbor Krista Koch described the couple as “militant” to the Review-Journal, and said that the two had talked about a plan to kill police officers. She told KTNV the two liked to dress up as Batman villains Joker and Harley Quinn, and that Jerad sometimes dressed as Slender Man.
Another neighbor, Brandon Monroe, said Jerad often rambled about conspiracy theories and wore camouflage, but also dressed as Peter Pan to work as a street performer at the Fremont Street Experience. Monroe described them as weird people who he thought used methamphetamine.
"They were handing out white-power propaganda and were talking about doing the next Columbine," Moore said to the Las Vegas Sun.
Jerad Miller left a trail of Facebook and YouTube posts ranting about conspiracy theories and railing against the government. Those postings turned ominous in the days leading up to the shootout, the Indy Star reported.
"The dawn of a new day. May all of our coming sacrifices be worth it," he wrote in a Facebook post on June 7.
"The police have never attacked a pro gun rally. They have no problem attacking a peace rally. Attacking armed people has consequences," he posted on June 5.
According to one police official and a witness, one of the shooters shouted, “This is a revolution!” and “We're freedom fighters!” during the attack on Walmart, the Sun reported.
"What precipitated this event, we do not know," Sheriff Doug Gillespie said. "My officers were simply having lunch when the shooting started."
The shooting spree began shortly before noon on Sunday. The Millers entered CiCi’s Pizza, where they ambushed the two cops, Metro Officers Alyn Beck and Igor Soldo, but not before one of the two men was able to fire back. The couple took the officers’ guns and ammunition, then ran inside the nearby Walmart, Assistant Sheriff Kevin McMahill said. They killed bystander Joseph Wilcox just inside the door of the megamart. Once fully in the store, they exchanged gunfire with responding police before Amanda shot Jerad then killed herself at the back of the store in what McMahill described as an “apparent suicide pact.”
Police may have found a possible manifesto in the Millers’ belongings, a law enforcement official told CNN on Monday. Along with the writings, the two carried flags or insignias with markings on them and two backpacks at the scene.
