On a Thursday evening in Las Vegas, a violent altercation in a downtown alley cut short the life of Manuel Niceforo Cardenas. It was December 11, 2014, when the 35-year-old Hispanic man was shot multiple times near Maryland Parkway and Ogden Avenue. According to police reports, an argument preceded the fatal shooting, after which the assailant fled the scene. Emergency services transported Cardenas to University Medical Center, but his wounds proved to be fatal, and he was pronounced dead.
At the time of his death, some sources reported his age as 34.
The initial investigation provided a sparse description of the suspect as a "mixed race" male who may have been wearing a red shirt. Law enforcement officers pulled over a vehicle seen leaving the area shortly after the shooting, but they quickly determined that the occupants were not involved. The motive behind the deadly confrontation remained unclear to investigators in the immediate aftermath.
Less than a month later, a breakthrough in the case came with the apprehension of a fugitive in a small Northern California town near the Oregon border. On January 6, 2015, Andrew Anthony Gorman, 33, was arrested in Happy Camp, California, by FBI and sheriff's deputies, with assistance from the California Highway Patrol. Las Vegas police had identified Gorman as the man seen running from the alley where Cardenas was killed. Following his arrest, Gorman was held in a California jail, awaiting extradition to Las Vegas to face charges in connection with the murder of Manuel Niceforo Cardenas. The specific details of what led to the argument between Cardenas and Gorman have not been publicly released.
