LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — An innocent mother was shot and killed in front of her daughter while waiting at an east Las Vegas red light, caught in the crossfire of a chaotic shootout initiated by a driver who was allegedly high on “whippets,” according to police documents.
On August 12, 2026, at approximately 3:15 p.m., police said Karla Abarca and her daughter, Lisa, were sitting inside a Ford F-150 at the intersection of E. Bonanza Road and N. Lamb Boulevard, eating ice cream after picking up a prescription at CVS.
Suddenly, a stray bullet shattered the truck’s windshield, striking Abarca in the head. She was rushed to Sunrise Hospital, where she died.
Inhaling ‘whippets’ minutes before the gunfight
According to an arrest report from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, surveillance footage captured the suspect, Francisco Chairez-Hernandez, driving a white Toyota Corolla with a large yellow balloon in his hand, actively inhaling nitrous oxide gas—commonly known as “whippets”— just four minutes before the shooting occurred.
Chairez-Hernandez pulled into the parking lot of a Panda Express and spotted Brad Serrano-Gutierrez waiting at a bus stop. Believing Serrano-Gutierrez looked like a masked man who had burglarized his car in Chinatown two weeks prior, Chairez-Hernandez stopped to record him on his phone.
The encounter escalated, police say. Chairez-Hernandez exited his vehicle carrying his cellphone in one hand and an AR-style rifle in the other, marching toward Serrano-Gutierrez.
Serrano-Gutierrez told police he feared for his life and fled. He pulled a concealed revolver from his backpack, firing two to three “warning” shots toward Chairez-Hernandez. Chairez-Hernandez ducked behind a car, stood back up, and fired about three rifle rounds toward the fleeing man. One of those bullets missed Serrano-Gutierrez and struck Abarca in her truck.
A bizarre return to the crime scene
Surveillance footage showed Chairez-Hernandez returning to the active crime scene just five minutes after fleeing, police say. He backed his vehicle into a parking spot, got out, and spent several minutes searching the pavement.
When later questioned by detectives, police say Chairez-Hernandez confessed to the shooting and admitted he went back to the scene to search for his ring, which had slipped off his finger when he pulled the rifle’s trigger.
Arrest and charges
According to the arrest report, detectives tracked Chairez-Hernandez’s vehicle using FLOCK license plate reader cameras, which spotted his custom rear bumper and black emblems 1.3 miles south of the crime scene shortly after the shooting. Undercover officers placed Chairez-Hernandez under surveillance on August 15, witnessing him drive erratically and continue to inhale whippets before arresting him at his residence later that night.
A search of his bedroom uncovered the black .300 Blackout AR-style rifle matching the cartridge casing recovered from the scene.
Chairez-Hernandez has been booked into the Clark County Detention Center on several charges, including:
- Open Murder with a Deadly Weapon
- Attempted Murder with a Deadly Weapon
- Assault with a Deadly Weapon
- Discharging a Gun at/into an Occupied Structure or Vehicle
He is due in court morning of Sept. 2.
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