Deadly zone in North Las Vegas sees 6 killings in recent weeks
Since December, 75 percent of the homicides in North Las Vegas have occurred in a roughly 2-square-mile area in the southern part of the city, the Las Vegas Review-Journal has found.
An examination of the eight most recent killings investigated by the North Las Vegas Police Department since December, which marked the end of a record year in homicides for the city, revealed a deadly zone bordered by Carey Avenue to the north, Owens Avenue to the south, Fifth Street to the west and Pecos Road to the east.
It also is home to the Police Department’s headquarters on Civic Center Drive and Las Vegas Boulevard North.
The rise in homicides during the latter part of 2018, when the city saw 36 killings, has continued into the new year. As of Saturday, police have investigated four homicides — double the number investigated over the same time last year.
‘That’s just how it is here’
Much of that 2-square-mile area is made up of residential neighborhoods lined with older ranch-style homes and duplexes, many built between the 1950s and 1970s. Failing chain-link fences marking front yards and barred windows are common on properties within the zone.
As is the sound of gunshots ringing in the air, according to multiple residents who spoke to the paper on the condition that their names not be used.
That all-too-familiar sound echoed through the area on Friday afternoon, after shots were fired in a backyard on Wilkinson Way, near Carey and Pecos. The gunfire brought out a large police presence from North Las Vegas and Clark County School District police.
City spokeswoman Delen Goldberg said no one was injured, characterizing the shooting as a “discharged weapon,” but the police activity prompted a lockdown at three schools in the area.
Cristian Gonzalez, 23, shares a home with his father and 14-year-old brother on the eastern edge of the 2-square-mile zone.
On Friday, as officers blocked multiple entrances into his neighborhood, he stood outside the one-story home, smoking a cigarette. In his front yard was an older vehicle, and random knick-knacks lay scattered on the ground.
He shrugged and offered a soft chuckle when asked about the gunshots that afternoon.
“I’ll be outside sometimes, randomly just smoking like this, and then it’s like, ‘pop, pop, pop, pop,’” Gonzalez said as his right hand mimicked a handgun being fired, the cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth as he spoke.
Even then, he said, he’ll stay outside in his front yard to finish his cigarette.
Gonzalez, born and raised in North Las Vegas, said he doesn’t usually think twice when he hears gunshots because they happen so often. But, he said, he does sometimes worry about his brother, who walks home from school every day and is close in age to the teens recently gunned down in the city.
Since September, gun violence has claimed the lives of seven people younger than 20 in North Las Vegas, according to Review-Journal records.
“But what can you do?” he asked. “That’s just how it is here.”
‘A pattern in location’
Gonzalez said he often comes home late at night or early in the morning because he works a mix of swing and graveyard shifts.
“I mean, drugs are usually an issue everywhere,” he said, “but here in this neighborhood, you will always see people going around on bikes at 2 or 3 in the morning asking and looking for drugs.”
But on Friday, Goldberg, the city spokeswoman, said the department has not identified any trends or underlying issues specific to the area, other than “the general policing that everybody in the valley is doing.”
Still, without having identified any trends, a new patrol squad was added to the 2-square-mile area last week in addition to existing staffing. Citing officer safety, police Chief Pamela Ojeda declined to disclose how many officers are assigned to the southern area command, where the 2-square-mile area is located, but ensured a significant number of officers patrol the area.
But the presence of the department’s southern area command police station within the deadly zone has done little to deter crime in the area. In fact, two of the eight most recent killings occurred near the station.
On Dec. 4, Miguel Nualla-Hernandez, 61, was shot multiple times in the back on the 2500 block of Las Vegas Boulevard North. He died three days later. The case remains unsolved.
And just across the street from the station, 81-year-old Charles Adams was allegedly pushed from a bus by Anthony Louis Villanueva, 41, during a fight. Complications of the blunt force trauma he suffered in his head and neck killed him on Dec. 21.
So, Goldberg said, the Police Department and city officials continue to explore other options, including a mobile surveillance camera system, to thwart the violence occurring in the 2-square-mile area, as well as other hot spots in the city.
Such camera technology, which is on wheels and flashes red and blue lights to make its presence known, already is being used by both Las Vegas and Henderson police.
“Even though the crimes are mostly unrelated, there’s clearly a pattern in location. Whether there’s reason to that or not, they are in a specific area,” Goldberg said when presented with the Review-Journal’s findings.
Contact Rio Lacanlale at rlacanlale@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Follow @riolacanlale on Twitter.
Related
North Las Vegas police, officials address recent shootings
North Las Vegas residents use meeting to vent about shootings
North Las Vegas appoints first female police chief
North Las Vegas police plan ways to combat gun violence
