LVMPD Thwarts Alleged Mass Shooting Terror Plot by Transgender Suspect at Sunset Station Casino

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officers, working with Henderson police and the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, prevented what authorities described as a potential mass shooting or terror act when they arrested 36-year-old Allison Howlett in the parking garage of Sunset Station casino on June 27, 2026.

Howlett, a biological male who identifies as a transgender woman, was taken into custody after his spouse called 911 reporting that Howlett had stolen their blue Subaru WRX containing multiple firearms and intended to commit “suicide by cop” or carry out a mass shooting. LVMPD and federal partners acted swiftly on the spouse’s warning, preventing potential tragedy at a busy casino.

Officers located the vehicle in the Sunset Station parking garage around 11:17 a.m. Howlett briefly exited the car before officers deployed a less-lethal projectile. Howlett was dragged from the driver’s side window after resisting commands. A search of the vehicle recovered 22-24 firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. A subsequent search of Howlett’s Henderson residence yielded another 26-30 firearms, including a Colt M4A1, an Atlantic Arms AK-47, a rocket launcher, suppressors, and thousands of rounds of ammunition. 

LVMPD officials initially caused confusion in their press conference by referring to the suspect using both “her” and “him” pronouns, yet police records lists Howlett as transgender who has not completed his transition.

Howlett faces 35 felony counts, including assault constituting domestic violence with use of a deadly weapon, grand larceny of a motor vehicle, multiple counts of larceny of a firearm, possession of machine guns or silencers, and possession of short-barreled rifles or shotguns. Police had announced additional charges related to making a threat regarding an act of terrorism and resisting a public officer with a firearm, though those were not included in the initial criminal complaint filed July 1. Bail was set at $500,000.

Court and police records detail a pattern of threats dating back to at least January 2024. Howlett’s spouse reported that he frequently donned body armor, grabbed a rifle, and demanded to be driven to a homeless shelter, alluding to committing a mass shooting there. 

A 38-minute video from January 2024 shows Howlett threatening to shoot up the Las Vegas Strip and stating a desire for police to “shoot me dead,” warning of a mass shooting if authorities did not arrest him. 

The FBI identified multiple threats, including profanity-laced recordings demanding arrest or else a mass shooting would occur. 

Howlett had recently been released from a mental health hold. During the incident, he reportedly placed a Desert Eagle handgun to his head. In court on July 1 before Justice of the Peace Barbara Schifalacqua, Howlett waived reading of the complaint, denied wrongdoing, and was appointed a public defender. A preliminary hearing is set for July 15.

“It is unknown what Allison’s intention was when she drove to the casino,” police noted, while emphasizing the credible threats reported by the spouse and the massive arsenal recovered. 

This case adds to a troubling pattern of mass violence and terroristic threats involving individuals who identify as transgender or non-binary. While transgender-identifying people represent a small fraction of the U.S. population (estimates range from 0.5% to under 1%), analyses of mass public shootings show disproportionate involvement in recent years relative to population share.

According to the Crime Prevention Research Center, transgender individuals accounted for a share of mass public shootings from 2018 to 2025 that was approximately six times their population proportion.

Recent examples include:

• 2018: Snochia Moseley (biological female identifying as transgender male) killed three coworkers in a Rite Aid warehouse shooting in Aberdeen, Maryland.
• 2019: Alec McKinney (biological female identifying as transgender male) participated in the STEM School Highlands Ranch shooting in Colorado, killing one and wounding eight.
• 2022: Anderson Aldrich, who identified as non-binary, opened fire at Club Q in Colorado Springs, Colorado, killing five and wounding others at the LGBTQ nightclub.
• 2023: Audrey Hale (biological female identifying as transgender male) carried out the Covenant School shooting in Nashville, Tennessee, killing six people (three children and three staff). Hale left behind a manifesto expressing rage tied to gender identity and anti-Christian sentiments.
• 2025: Robin Westman, identified as transgender, carried out a mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church and school in Minneapolis, killing two children.
• 2026: Robert Dorgan (also known as Roberta Esposito or Roberta Dorgano), a 56-year-old biological male who identified as a transgender woman, killed three people at the Dennis M. Lynch Arena in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, before dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

These incidents have continued to fuel discussion among researchers tracking ideologically motivated or public mass violence. Many of these perpetrators had documented histories of severe mental illness, including depression, anxiety, personality disorders, and prior psychiatric holds—comorbidities frequently observed alongside gender dysphoria.

Howlett’s case underscores the intersection of mental health crises, access to firearms, and threats of mass violence. Police recovered an extraordinary cache of weapons, including illegal machine guns and a rocket launcher, from a single individual recently released from mental health custody.

As more violent cases emerge, questions about screening, treatment protocols for gender dysphoria, and the suppression of discussion around these patterns in mainstream media demand urgent answers from policymakers and can no longer be ignored by the public.