Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles was taken into custody in connection with the murder of Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative reporter Jeff German.
He was arrested following a standoff with police at his home and booked into jail on murder charges. He suffered self-inflicted wounds, but they were not considered to be life-threatening.
German was stabbed to death in front of his house following an altercation with an individual over the weekend.
"We are ... outraged that a colleague appears to have been killed for reporting on an elected official. Journalists can't do the important work our communities require if they are afraid a presentation of facts could lead to violent retribution," Las Vegas Review-Journal Executive Editor Glenn Cook said in a statement.
Telles was elected to his position in 2018 but lost his reelection bid in a June Democratic primary. He was the subject of several articles written by German that detailed his bullying and a hostile work environment in his office. Telles denied all of the allegations.
German was working on another story about Telles when he was murdered.