Police believe fatal shooting near downtown Las Vegas was drug-related
Las Vegas police are investigating a fatal shooting that happened Wednesday night just north of downtown Las Vegas.
Officers responded about 8:05 p.m. to the shooting on the 600 block of North 10th Street, near the Bonanza Road intersection, Metropolitan Police Department Lt. David Gordon said.
The victim, a man in his late 40s, was transported to University Medical Center, where he died about an hour later.
Police believe the shooting was drug-related, Metro homicide Lt. Dan McGrath said during a press briefing late Wednesday night. He said Metro’s drug unit had some history with the house and the people involved in the shooting.
McGrath wasn’t sure what happened in the moments leading up to the shooting, other than the man was shot in the doorway. Police were looking for three people, two men and a woman, who got into a red Jeep Cherokee and left southbound through an alley toward East Bonanza Road.
He said it’d be speculation to say whether the victim knew his assailants.
“But obviously they drove here and went particularly to that residence and went to the door, where he was shot,” he said.
The victim wasn’t armed when he was taken to the hospital, McGrath said, but it was less clear if he was armed during the shooting.
“It’s always a possibility when there’s some type of narcotics activity,” McGrath said, “so wouldn’t rule it out at this point.”
The fatal shooting marked the 157th homicide Metro has investigated within its jurisdiction this year, which ties the total homicide count for all of 2006, the highest homicide total Metro had seen since at least 2000.
The Clark County coroner’s office will name the person killed once the family has been notified.
Contact Rachel Crosby at rcrosby@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290. Follow @rachelacrosby on Twitter. Contact Mike Shoro at mshoro@reviewjournal.com. Follow @mike_shoro on Twitter.
