Las Vegas city maintenance worker pleads not guilty in fatal shooting of coworker

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A Las Vegas city maintenance worker accused of fatally shooting his coworker in June has been indicted by a Clark County grand jury, according to court documents obtained by Channel 13.

Brysen Kim, 31, is charged with murder with the use of a deadly weapon and burglary while in possession of a firearm or deadly weapon.

Kim appeared in Clark County District Court on July 1 for his initial arraignment, where he pleaded not guilty. He is being held at the Clark County Detention Center without bail.

WATCH | Here's the full briefing from police in the initial stages of the investigation:

Kim was arrested on June 12 after reportedly shooting his coworker, Joey McLean. Both men worked as city maintenance employees.

According to the arrest report, several 911 calls came in around 6 a.m. to report the shooting. One caller was Kim himself, who said, "We need police, I just shot someone. He f***ing threatened me."

Witnesses at the scene said that as Kim and McLean were preparing for their shifts, Kim punched McLean in the head, knocking him to the floor. Kim then reportedly kicked McLean in the head. When coworkers tried to intervene, Kim pulled out a gun and shot McLean.

During police interviews that morning, Kim spoke before being questioned: "I'm gonna be honest brother, this has been going on with this guy since the beginning of this year. It's all been documented with the city. I've begged them for help. This guy's followed me home. He's messed with my personal... I've come to them for help. They didn't provide a safe work environment for nobody. They didn't hear me out. I went through their whole process and they just kept telling me to hold on, brother."

Kim allegedly said his issues with McLean stemmed from a January 2026 incident where he suspected McLean hadn't properly fastened a truck's tailgate, nearly hitting Kim. Kim said McLean had done this before, and in one incident, Kim had to deliberately crash his truck into a disconnected trailer to prevent it from hitting pedestrians.

Kim said he filed numerous complaints since January through HR and OSHA to document the incidents. He tried to avoid McLean and work through his chain of command and HR, but nothing was done to resolve the situation.

In January, Kim requested not to work alongside McLean, which he said triggered a campaign of harassment. Kim believed McLean tried to follow him home and feared for his wife and children's safety due to McLean's erratic behavior.

Kim described a June 8 incident when he was forced to pull up next to McLean in traffic. McLean rolled down his window and threatened Kim. When Kim rolled down his window, he heard McLean say, "I'm going to kill you," while pointing his hand at Kim like a gun.

Kim said he didn't want to discuss the shooting itself, only what led up to it.

Police interviews with other coworkers backed up claims that the two had ongoing disputes. They also confirmed that Kim had brought these issues to the company but no solution had been implemented.