Group meets in response to North Las Vegas infant’s shooting death
In the wake of Saturday’s shooting death of a newborn boy, the Rev. Troy Martinez had a clear message for a room full of religious leaders, authorities and community members.
“There’s good and evil, and what happened the other night was very evil,” he told about 40 people Thursday morning at Las Vegas City Hall.
Marcus Thomas Jr., a 3-week-old boy, was shot and killed when his parents’ parked car was sprayed with bullets. The infant’s 22-year-old father also was shot but has been released from the hospital.
“If we are going to let this slide by, pass by or, with minimal attention, allow it to take place, that’s our Chicago moment,” Martinez said in a phone interview after the meeting. “It will continue, it will escalate, and a very short time in the future, it will be a social norm.”
Chicago has recently faced a highly publicized spike of gun violence.
Martinez called the meeting with the Rebuilding Every City Around Peace group of the Mayor’s Faith Initiative to brainstorm ways to respond peacefully to the weekend shooting. Police have expressed concern about possible retaliation for the crime.
The group assembled a plan to get community members out in the streets to distribute fliers emphasizing how people can anonymously give authorities information.
After the meeting, Martinez said arrangements could be made for the shooter to surrender without violence.
Martinez, who said he has remained in contact with the victim’s family since the shooting, also said he believes gang culture contributed to the infant’s death. North Las Vegas police have said the shooting was not random but would not say whether the incident was gang-related.
Capt. Mike Carmody, who heads the North Las Vegas Police Department’s detective bureau, said the department has been working around-the-clock to solve the case. He said the department knows there are certain people who have information but have yet to come forward.
“I can’t overemphasize how deeply this has hurt us in the police department,” he said at the meeting.
Contact Blake Apgar at bapgar@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5298. Follow @blakeapgar on Twitter.
