Henderson Police Thwart Potential Mass Shooting: Armed Suspect Found with Arsenal of 22 Firearms
A Henderson, Nevada judge set bail at half a million dollars Wednesday for Allison Howlett, who allegedly threatened mass violence and was discovered in a parking garage armed standoff with an arsenal that included 22 firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.
The case presents a disturbing picture of repeated threats that went unaddressed for years.
Henderson Police Chief Reggie Rader confirmed officers discovered “at least 22 firearms” in the vehicle Allison Howlett occupied during Saturday’s tense standoff at the Sunset Station parking garage. Among the weapons were a handgun positioned in the driver’s seat and a rifle in the backseat—both within immediate reach.
The ammunition stockpile recovered from the vehicle numbered in the hundreds of rounds.
A Pattern of Escalating Threats
According to law enforcement documents, Howlett had been making mass shooting threats for several years prior to the arrest. This wasn’t a sudden breakdown—it was a pattern of escalating dangerous behavior that authorities are only now confronting.
Julie Howlett, Allison’s spouse, provided chilling details to police about the suspect’s behavior. She reported that Howlett would “frequently put on body armor, grab a rifle,” and demand to be driven to a homeless shelter while alluding to shooting homeless people.
The spouse also reported threats of “suicide by cop” and claimed Howlett had stolen her vehicle.
The Saturday Standoff
The arrest occurred Saturday when Howlett refused to exit the vehicle while armed with multiple firearms in the Sunset Station garage. The standoff required significant police resources and put countless Henderson residents at risk.
Police indicated both Allison and Julie Howlett are biological males taking estrogen and progesterone as part of gender transitions.
Questions About Prevention
This case raises serious questions about how someone making repeated mass shooting threats over several years was able to amass such an arsenal. The failure to intervene earlier could have resulted in a tragedy of massive proportions.
The $500,000 bail reflects the severity of the threat and the judge’s recognition that this individual posed—and may still pose—a significant danger to the community.
Henderson police deserve credit for their professional handling of a volatile situation that could have ended in bloodshed. Their intervention may have prevented another American community from joining the tragic list of mass shooting sites.
The investigation continues as authorities work to determine how this suspect slipped through the cracks despite years of reported threatening behavior.
