LAS VEGAS – The man accused of killing two people and wounding six others in a stabbing spree on the Las Vegas Strip had been living in the Los Angeles area, and even spoke to a Telemundo 52 camera crew downtown just days before the attack.
Yoni Barrios, 32, made his first court appearance in Las Vegas Friday, one day after going on the deadly rampage.
On Tuesday, however, Barrios was in downtown Los Angeles, where he approached a Telemundo cameraman and reporter outside City Hall, seeming to be looking for help. The cameraman recorded the interaction on a cell phone.
In the brief interaction aired by NBC4 Friday, Barrios speaks in Spanish, saying he was living on the streets, having recently lost his home and possessions. He also showed the Telemundo cameraman a bottle of prescription drugs which he said he suspected of causing him mental problems.
According to media reports, Barrios spent time living in Rowland Heights and Hollywood. CBS2 reported that he previously lived in Rowland Heights with a former girlfriend.
ABC7 reported that Barrios lived in East Hollywood more than three years ago. The apartment building manager told the station he was a good tenant.
One of the victims killed in the stabbing spree was a street performer who would pose for pictures with tourists on the Strip. According to a Las Vegas police report, Barrios approached a group of performers outside the Wynn Casino, apparently hoping to take a photo with them while holding a knife — saying he was looking for a job as a chef.
Barrios allegedly wound up fatally stabbing one of the performers, then ran along the strip, attacking random people along the way before he was taken into custody. Media reports out of Las Vegas indicated that Barrios is a Guatemalan immigrant who passed through Mexico before settling in California.
