Landlord shoots tenant in rent feud
Suspect in custody, victim in critical condition at UMC
For at least the second time in four months, a Las Vegas landlord has been charged with shooting a tenant in a dispute over unpaid rent.
Police and court records show Sildem Gandy, 69, of Las Vegas, has been charged with attempted murder in a Dec. 11 shooting at a home on the 5500 block of Gipsy Lane, near Alta Drive and Decatur Boulevard. An arrest report contends Gandy shot tenant Thomas Reddy, 57, multiple times during an argument over Reddy’s unpaid rent. Gandy, police wrote in the report, then called 911 to report the shooting.
“Come and arrest me now, I just killed that (expletive),” Gandy is quoted by police as saying. “I just shot him and he’s laying on the floor. I used a handgun and it’s sitting on the safe.”
Gandy was arrested at the scene. Reddy was hospitalized with two gunshot wounds to the chest, one to his left thigh, one to his left wrist and one to his chin. He was listed in critical condition at University Medical Center shortly after the shooting.
“Sildem stated he rented a room to Thomas a few months ago and Thomas stopped paying rent,” police said. “Sildem said he was in the process of evicting Thomas. Sildem stated Thomas was going crazy ‘so I went nuts.’ ”
Four months ago, Las Vegas landlord Arnoldo Sanchez, 78, was charged with two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder for a triple shooting at a home in the 200 block of West Chicago Avenue, near South Main Street and Las Vegas Boulevard South, on Aug. 10. Pauline Wilson, 53, and Dawn Paynter, 57, both of Las Vegas were slain.
A third person was shot multiple times but survived.
Police said Sanchez was urged by a witness to evict his tenants, but that he told the individual he would “handle it his way.”
Charges against Sanchez were pending as of Monday.
Gandy, meanwhile, was charged Tuesday in Las Vegas Justice Court and remained in custody at the Clark County Detention Center. A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for Dec. 28.
An attorney representing Gandy could not immediately be reached for comment.