Las Vegas Gift Shop Wounded Security Guard Undergoes Surgery, Remains in Hospital

Posted on: June 19, 2022, 03:04h. 

Last updated on: June 20, 2022, 02:41h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More
Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

The security guard critically wounded last week at Bonanza Gift Shop, located on the Las Vegas Strip, remains hospitalized in an intensive care unit. He is identified as Adolfo Rivera.

Mercedes Cage, in a mug shot
Mercedes Cage, in a mug shot, pictured above. She faces several charges after allegedly wounding a security guard at Bonanza Gift Shop on the Las Vegas Strip. (Image: LVMPD)

In an exclusive interview with KVVU, a local TV station, the injured guard’s daughter, Mary Rivera, revealed he remains on a ventilator. On Thursday, doctors performed surgery on her father at University Medical Center.

“Their main concern was the damage to his pancreas, cause most of the damage was at the head of the pancreas, and that’s a critical area with the ducts that connect to the stomach. But it’s looking ok so far. Today, they were just trying to control the bleeding,” Mary Rivera told the TV station.

Doctors believe Adolfo Rivera will remain in the hospital’s ICU for three weeks, KVVU said. He was in stable condition late last week.

Mary Rivera also said her father has worked at the gift shop for six years. Relatives wanted him to change jobs because of the risk of danger, KVVU said.

“We’ve been asking him for years to try to get a different job, cause this is just so dangerous. But everyone likes him because he does his job,” she revealed.

Brave, Hard-Working

“He’s really hard-working. He’s there six days a week, eight hours a day. And he’s good at his job because he’s not, like, scared of, like, confronting people,” Mary Rivera added.

Last December, he was assaulted on the job. He had to get stitches, the report said.

On Tuesday, Rivera and another security guard, identified as Juan Hernandez, confronted an attempted shoplifter in the parking lot after she was walking away with a sweater, police said.

The suspect, later identified as Mercedes Cage, 35, of San Leandro, Calif., pulled out a handgun, police said. She allegedly fired nine rounds at the guards. Some bullets hit a vehicle or the exterior of a building.

Rivera was wounded in his back. Another guard immediately performed CPR after he fell to the pavement.

Cage began to walk on Las Vegas Boulevard. Her gun had malfunctioned, police believe. So, Hernandez ran after her and pushed her to the ground. The two struggled, and she appeared to have shot herself in the left armpit by accident, KVVU said.

In addition to attempted murder, Cage is charged with battery with a deadly weapon, assault with a deadly weapon, discharging a gun into an occupied structure, and damaging a vehicle.

She remained in custody as of Sunday at the Clark County Detention Center, according to online jail records. Bail was set at $200,000. She is likely to appear in local court on Monday.

Respect Guards

Given what her father has been through, Mary Rivera wants shoppers to be respectful of security guards.

“They might seem annoying sometimes. They’re like questioning you and asking you to do certain things, like not park in the private parking lot so your car doesn’t get towed.”

“But they’re just trying to do the job that they’re there to do and they’re the first line of protection,” Mary Rivera said.

Online Fundraiser Asks for Help

The family has set up a GoFundMe page for her father’s care and household expenses. As of Sunday, the fundraising effort has collected $2,135. The goal is $10,000. Rivera is a father of six children, as well as being a grandfather.

“It is apparent that his injuries will take a long time to heal. The Rivera family is reaching out to ask for help,” Mary Rivera said in the online posting. “He will not be able to work for a long time.”