Disabled Army vet from Twin Cities is shot dead in Las Vegas; gunman jailed

A disabled Army veteran from the Twin Cities was shot and killed in a back-alley confrontation in Las Vegas with an off-duty security guard.

Keith Friese, 32, of Ramsey, was shot midday Thursday in the parking lot of the Fun City Motel just off the Strip, police said.

Spencer S. Trevathan, 29, remains jailed on a murder charge but is claiming self-defense. Police said Friese was unarmed.

According to the police arrest report, video surveillance footage shows Trevathan on a balcony exchanging words with Friese in the alley.

Trevathan came down, "approached Friese and appeared to shove him with both hands," the report read, citing the video. "Friese pushed Trevathan with both hands, and then Trevathan drew a black firearm from a holster on his right hip."

Trevathan shot Friese in the left upper torso, then came to Friese's aid and called 911, the report continued.

Police arrived and seized Trevathan's semiautomatic handgun and booked him into jail. He declined to give a statement to police and remains in jail without bail.

Trevathan's Facebook page notes that he also is an Army veteran and a firearms instructor at the Strip Gun Club, located around the block from the motel, which was where Trevathan lives.

Friese grew up in Ramsey and joined the Army after graduating from Anoka High School.

He served in the Army for four years and was honorably discharged after suffering injuries in a car crash on a base in South Korea.

His stepmother, Kelli Friese, said that he has had numerous back surgeries related to the crash and has been receiving disability benefits. For the past couple of years he has been traveling around the country on his own looking for a new place to live.

"Keith was not a confrontation person," she said. "We've never heard him yell or get in an argument. When he would get mad, he would giggle. That's how we knew he was mad. … He would never get in a fight or pick a fight."