The former head of the Pascua Yaqui gaming office was gunned down outside a Southern California casino by a recently fired employee, officials said.
Raymundo Casillas headed the tribal gaming office in Tucson until February 2004, when he left to become head of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa tribal gaming office. Casillas was with that office until December 2008.
Authorities said Donnell Roberts, 38, fatally shot Casillas, 43, the head of the Barona Gaming Commission, in the manager's office Tuesday. He then killed himself.
Roberts was fired in November as an investigator with the commission. He previously was a security guard for the nearby Barona Casino and Resort.
Around 10 a.m. Tuesday, Roberts drove his pickup to the casino complex and headed to Casillas' office, ordering three secretaries to leave, San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore told reporters.
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Casino general manager Rick Salinas told The Associated Press another 13 to 15 employees fled through a back door, then witnesses heard three gunshots.
Deputies and California Highway Patrol officers soon surrounded the gaming commission building, located behind the casino. The wait ended after two robots captured images of the bodies.
The resort, which includes a 400-room hotel, golf course and spa, is operated by the Barona Band of Mission Indians and employs about 3,000 people. It's about 20 miles east of San Diego.
Wendell Long, CEO of Sol Casinos, said Casillas was a Pascua Yaqui tribal member who unsuccessfully ran in 2008 for the tribal council.
