Two killed in shooting during livestream in front of Bellagio fountains

A 41-year-old man was arrested in connection with the livestreamed killing of two people Sunday night in front of the Bellagio fountains, a violent end to what police said was a social media feud.

Police said the suspect, Manuel Ruiz, walked into a Henderson police station and turned himself in Monday morning.

Ruiz was taken into custody and was expected to be booked into the Clark County Detention Center on two counts of open murder with a deadly weapon, according to a Metropolitan Police Department news release.

‘Conflict using social media platforms’

Gunfire erupted in the 3600 block of Las Vegas Boulevard South, near the Bellagio, at about 10:40 p.m., according to Las Vegas police.

Metro officers on patrol in the area heard gunshots coming from the west side of the Strip and “immediately ran toward that gunfire, and they found two victims who were lying on the sidewalk, suffering from apparent gunshot wounds,” Undersheriff Andrew Walsh said during a news briefing early Monday morning.

“Our officers rendered medical aid to both victims, but their efforts to save those victims’ lives were unsuccessful, and both victims were pronounced deceased at the scene,” Walsh said.

Walsh said at the 1:45 a.m. briefing that police knew who they were looking for, and that it appeared the suspect and one of the victims had feuded with each other in the past.

The Clark County coroner’s office is expected to release the victims’ identities. A spokesperson for MGM Resorts, which owns the Bellagio, did not immediately respond to the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s request for comment.

Before Ruiz’s arrest, Walsh said, “the suspect and the victim had previously engaged in some type of conflict using a variety of social media platforms.”

A video of the shooting was circulating on social media. The video, which appeared to be from a livestream, shows a woman confronting a man on the sidewalk, with the Paris Las Vegas hot air balloon sign and Planet Hollywood across the street in the background. The woman appears to be confronting the man, who pulls out a handgun and fires at somebody off-screen. The shocked woman screams as multiple gunshots ring out.

WARNING: Viewer discretion is advised when watching the video below.

Information unconfirmed by police circulated online about the shooting, suggesting that one of the two people shot dead had been a YouTuber and that the gunman was also a YouTuber.

Walsh, who did not release any information about the victims, said police were aware that a lot was being said on social media about the killing.

Police made “every effort” to track down and arrest the suspected killer, Walsh said early Monday morning before Ruiz’s arrest.

‘A terrible act of hate’

In the hours following the shooting, multiple YouTube creators with Las Vegas ties reacted with shock to the initial reports, while others illustrated the ongoing feud between Ruiz and one of the victims, identified online as YouTuber Finny Da Legend.

Marc Sanson, a Las Vegas-based YouTuber known online as TheOtherMeLV, streamed live for more than five hours following the shooting and told the Review-Journal he knew both shooting victims and Ruiz.

Finny and his wife, whom Sanson referred to as “Bubbly,” had become friends he would interact with mostly online but had met in person on a few occasions. Sanson said he had known Ruiz, too, but had grown distant from him after he began talking more with Finny.

“What happened last night was a terrible act of hate, and we are heartbroken for the children and families on both sides, as well as the sorrow of losing our close friends,” Sanson said in an emailed message Monday. He declined to comment further on the matter.

Professional gambler and commentator Todd Witteles, who goes by the YouTube moniker PokerFraudAlert, posted a nearly 19-minute-long video Monday reviewing what appeared to be a spat between Ruiz and Finny Da Legend that dated back to at least 2023 and had been chronicled by each others’ post history.

As of Monday, the FinnyDaLegend YouTube channel remained publicly accessible. Video content had been posted as recently as June 7, while attempts to reach Ruiz’s SINCITYMANNY page were unsuccessful. But a review of the videos and livestreams posted to the FinnyDaLegend channel since November 2023 shows several entries engaging with Ruiz.

Witteles described Finny Da Legend as a “reaction” YouTuber. Most of the videos Finny posted were of him and friends commenting on other users’ content, including several posted by SINCITYMANNY.

‘They would laugh at them’

“He would play Manny’s videos; he would sit with his friends and they would laugh at them,” Witteles said. “They’d make fun of Manny, the way he’d look. They’d make fun of the way Manny’s wife looked. He’d make fun of what they were doing.”

In March 2024, Finny posted that Ruiz’s wife, identified as Juliana Pimentel, had allegedly contacted YouTube several times requesting to remove videos from the FinnyDaLegend page, accusing it of stealing content from Ruiz. Several attempts to reach Pimentel on Monday were unsuccessful, and multiple copyright strikes can result in an account being terminated, according to YouTube’s guidelines.

FinnyDaLegend, following the copyright strikes against his channel, began to post more frequently, “trolling” Ruiz, according to Witteles, which included posts outing an alleged extramarital affair and other posts to antagonize Ruiz. Among those was a five-hour-long livestream June 3, days before FinnyDaLegend’s reported trip to Las Vegas, that included negative comments on Pimentel’s appearance.

In that same video from FinnyDaLegend, the man who is identified as Finny claimed he could have issued a copyright strike against Ruiz’s channel, but that doing so could result in the channel being banned from the platform. In the video, Finny claimed he wouldn’t report the issue to YouTube for fear that Ruiz might harm himself, though it ultimately proved to be Finny who was in danger.

“Mental illness is real, and we can clearly see this guy is mentally ill,” Finny reportedly said. “Y’all know that channel means everything to him. He don’t got no outside friends, nothing. I don’t think I could do it (take his account), in my heart. And I’m saying this online so he can see it, too.”

Strip returns to normal

Later that morning, Thelma Louise, who goes by @iamthelmalouise on TikTok, walked by, livestreaming the recently cleaned crime scene near the Fountains of Bellagio.

Dried blood on cracks of pavement beneath her feet was the only trace of the tragedy from the night before. By then, yellow caution tape that had sectioned off the walkway had been removed, and, as multiple tourists told the Review-Journal, the Strip had returned to normal.

Louise, 51, who moved to Las Vegas from Austin, Texas, two years ago, insisted that the city was still a safe place to visit and live.

“Things are going to happen, and they’ll get a spotlight because it’s Vegas,” Louise said. “Vegas has the label ‘Sin City,’ and we all know, ‘what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.’ It is an extremely unfortunate situation, but I am grateful that Metro does a good job of keeping people safe.”

Tourist Raul Chaluleu, 41, also walking along the same area of the Strip, shared similar sentiments, applauding police for how they handled the shooting.

Chaluleu, who wore flip-flops and athletic shorts, had traveled to Las Vegas from North Carolina to see Kenny Chesney perform at Sphere.

“We were standing outside Planet Hollywood all night,” Chaluleu said. “We went in probably an hour before it happened.”

He learned about the killings the next morning.

“I woke up to text messages from back home, because they’re three hours ahead of us,” Chaluleu added.

‘It’s just not worth it’

Chaluleu said he believed the shooting happened as a result of a feud between rival YouTube content creators. It reminded him of similar incidents where celebrities on the platform were provocative to people in public, sometimes resulting in violence.

“You’re getting shot for a YouTube video,” Chaluleu said. “It’s just not worth it.”

Eric Rose, a partner at a California-based communications firm that handles reputation management, image repair and media relations cases, said online fame and visibility often come with vulnerability.

Speaking generally about the shooting, Rose said people can sometimes underestimate how toxic and personal online harassment can become, especially when it is monetized or “fueled by ego.”

“Feuds that generate views can also generate obsession,” Rose wrote in an emailed statement. “I often see that the pressure to stay relevant online, to be provocative, edgy or confrontational, can push creators to adopt personas that invite attention, but also scrutiny, obsession and even threats. When you live publicly, you open the door to fans and critics alike, and sometimes to those who blur the line between the two.”

Contact Brett Clarkson at [email protected]. Contact Arlette Yousif at [email protected]. Follow @arletteyousif on Instagram. Contact Akiya Dillon at [email protected]. Contact Finnegan Belleau at [email protected]. Contact Casey Harrison at [email protected]. Review-Journal photographer Madeline Carter contributed to this report.