Man convicted of killing casino security guard
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. May 12th, 2022 A Kern County jury on Tuesday convicted a man of murder in the shooting death of a Golden West Casino security guard.
Keon Brackenridge faces life in prison at his June 8 sentencing. The jury found him guilty of first-degree murder, attempted murder, three counts of assault with a gun, shooting at an inhabited dwelling and possession of a firearm by a felon.
Witnesses told sheriff’s investigators Brackenridge refused to show identification and was denied entry to the casino on Nov, 3, 2017.
As security guards escorted him off the property, Brackenridge stopped in the parking lot, pulled a gun from his waistband and opened fire, according to court documents.
Security guard Richard Iloilo, 25, was hit and died at the scene. Three security guards returned fire, hitting Brackenridge in the forearm and thigh.
He ran two blocks to Playfair Market, where deputies arrested him. Brackenridge, a documented member of the West Side Crips street gang, claimed he acted in self-defense.
Surveillance footage, however, shows Brackenridge pull his gun and fire first, documents said. The only contact guards made with Brackenridge before the shooting was to place a hand on him and push him forward, the reports say.
No patrons were hit, but a bullet passed through a casino window and shattered the glass partition of a table in the west side of the building, according to the documents. Guests threw themselves on the floor as they sought cover.
An employee in the casino’s “champagne room” said he heard gunfire and pulled guests behind the wall separating the room from the main floor of the casino.
One witness described the shooting as like “the fight at the O.K. Corral.”
