Tarkanian’s could be shut down

Law enforcement and county officials considered Monday whether to close Tarkanian’s Celebrity Sports Club after a gun-toting 19-year-old man was killed by police outside the Maryland Parkway nightspot, sparking a riot.

An angry crowd threw bottles and broke windows after the 3 a.m. Sunday shooting in the parking lot of the tavern at 4550 S. Maryland Parkway.

Jarvis Delane Rice of North Las Vegas, who was firing a gun outside the club, was shot eight times by police.

Eight people were arrested on misdemeanor charges after the melee. They were booked into the county jail and released.

Homicide investigators said a clash between two gang members led to Rice’s ejection from the club just prior to the shooting. Police said Rice belonged to a gang, but wouldn’t specify which one.

Deputy Chief John Sullivan said the club owners were irresponsible in allowing members of the Bloods and Crips street gangs to wear their colors in the club.

"Apparently there was a show-your-colors night at the club. Whether the gangs did it on their own or management sponsored it we don’t know," Sullivan said.

Rebel basketball Coach Jerry Tarkanian lends his name to the club, but has no role in its management.

Sullivan gave this description of the shooting:

After being thrown out of the club, Rice emptied a .22-caliber handgun. He then smashed a window in the car in which he had driven to the bar, grabbed a .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol from the vehicle and resumed firing.

Uniformed patrol officers responded to a call of shots being fired. The first officer on the scene saw Rice shooting in the direction of the crowded tavern.

The officer ordered Rice to drop the gun, but Rice pointed it in the direction of the officer. The officer fired several rounds, striking Rice.

After Rice fell to the ground, he dropped his weapon, then reached for it. The officer ordered him not to go for his pistol, but Rice touched it and the officer fired several more times. Rice later was pronounced dead at University Medical Center.

Police will release the officer’s name today. According to department policy, the identity of officers involved in shootings is withheld for 48 hours.

A coroner’s inquest will be scheduled in the case.

Police said about 200 panicked patrons attempted to leave the club after the shooting, but were blocked at the exits by bouncers. Once the patrons got out the situation heightened, with obscenities being shouted and bottles and rocks being tossed at the officers.

At least 20 officers, including canine units, were at the scene. The Nevada Highway Patrol blocked off Maryland Parkway as the crowd spilled into the streets.

Homicide investigators said the incident may have been sparked by the presence in the club of a Crip gang member who was recently acquitted for the wounding of a Blood gang member in April 1990.

A 36-year-old basketball coach who has worked with gang members in a youth program witnessed Sunday’s shooting. His account of the incident differed from the police version.

The man, who did not want to be identified for fear of gang retaliation, said he was leaning up against his car, about 14 feet away from Rice, when the shooting occurred.

The man, who said he knows several gang members, believed the fracas inside the tavern was between two people in the same gang, not rival gangs.

"The guy kind of got his pride hurt when he was kicked out. He did get a gun and started firing toward the club, but he wasn’t trying to shoot anyone," he said.

The man said a police officer came out of nowhere and shot Rice in the shoulder.

Rice was still standing, saying he had been hit, when a second officer shot him several more times. The man said Rice was a few feet away from his weapon and never tried to reach for it.

"The frustrating thing about the way this has been reported is that it wasn’t like a large riot initially, until cops started beating innocent bystanders," he said.

Authorities said only one officer fired his gun and the crowd turned on the police.

The investigation into Sunday’s incident is continuing and a meeting is scheduled for today among the club’s owners, county business license officials, Las Vegas police and the district attorney’s office.

Ned Solomon, director of the county’s business license department, said the owners are getting a chance to "clean up their act."

The owners will be asked to come up with a written plan to deal with the problems caused recently by the club’s patrons. The plan is due Thursday.

Sheriff John Moran has directed his special investigations section to study if the license should be revoked. The County Commission will ultimately make that determination.

"There have been muggings, rapes, vandalism, shootings and dope transactions in that parking lot," Sullivan said. "Just about every weekend we get a call about shootings in the parking lot or man-with-a-gun calls. We can trace disturbance calls up to a year, but during the last several months it has become increasingly more violent with gang activity."

The club’s general manager, Jerry Brown, said Saturday night’s entertainment event called "After Dark" begins at 10 p.m. and ends at 4 a.m.

"It’s caused enough aggravation that we more than likely won’t have it anymore. It’s really too bad that 5 percent of the people caused enough problems for the other 95 percent of the people who really enjoy themselves," he said.