On March 1, 2026, 27-year-old James Espinoza was shot and killed near the intersection of Lake Mead and Nellis boulevards in the east Las Vegas Valley. Dash camera footage from a nearby vehicle captured a man later identified as 39-year-old Robert Aguilar Jr. approach Espinoza, who was on a bicycle. After a brief interaction both men drew firearms and exchanged gunfire. Multiple 911 calls brought Metropolitan Police Department officers to the scene; Espinoza was found on the sidewalk and pronounced dead there.

A witness who was with Espinoza, who the witness knew as J, said Aguilar approached at gunpoint and demanded their belongings and tried to take Espinoza’s openly carried firearm. Aguilar fled on his bicycle and was found a short distance away, wounded and without a gun. He was taken to University Medical Center in critical condition and was arrested; he faces charges of open murder and attempted robbery and was held without bail while still hospitalized at his initial hearing on March 4. Espinoza’s sister said he was a father and had just left a store moments before the shooting, and an online fundraiser was set up to support his family.

Did anyone in the area see the confrontation or recognize either man before the shooting?