Gravel feud turns deadly; man shot

Karen Zekan

Wednesday, June 26, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

An ongoing feud between two Lone Mountain gravel pit companies led to the death of a 54-year-old Las Vegas man after a rival fired several rounds to call an end to a front-end loader duel.

The melee began about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday when employees of the Big Horn Materials Co. showed up on TCB Now's property at Lone Mountain Road and Jensen Street to recover a piece of machinery they claimed to own, police said.

Anticipating trouble, a TCB Now security guard, whom authorities said was hired because of growing tension between the two neighboring companies, called his employer. Within a few minutes, several members of each rival group were face to face on TCB Now's dusty gravel pit a few feet east of Big Horn's border.

An escalating verbal fight prompted employees from both companies to climb aboard front-end loaders and battle-ram each other, said Metro Police homicide Lt. Larry Spinosa.

A 48-year-old Big Horn employee who was driving a DC9 allegedly flipped over a front-end loader about the same time Spinosa said the warring groups began pelting each other with rocks.

One of the rocks flew into the DC9 cab and hit the Big Horn employee, who then pulled out a handgun in what authorities have been told was an effort to stop the battle. He fired off two rounds.

When the rock-throwing didn't stop and a front-end loader came at him, Spinosa said the Big Horn employee fired two more rounds, striking the machine and a TCB Now employee.

Paramedics transported the victim to University Medical Center, where a nursing supervisor said the man died at 7:55 p.m. from a bullet wound to his upper chest.

Police have not charged the gunman or released his name pending the outcome of their investigation. The victim's identity has been withheld until his relatives can be notified.

"We haven't charged the suspect because we are still trying to determine if he fired in self-defense," Spinosa said.

"We're still not completely sure what went on here tonight. ... A lot of people were involved, some of whom scattered after the shooting started."

Attempts to reach company representatives for comment were not successful. Listings for the companies could not be found in the phone book. The phone company's information service also had no listings for Big Horn Materials or TCB Now.

The feud started several months ago when a faction of Big Horn workers broke off from the company to form TCB Now, acquiring land through a deal with the federal Bureau of Land Management to start their own gravel pit a few feet east of their former employer, Spinosa said.

TCB Now allegedly took Big Horn equipment with them when they left, claiming it was property they owned. Spinosa said the companies hired attorneys to iron out disputes over rightful ownership.

Lawyers were among the small crowd of gravel pit workers standing around in the darkness after Tuesday night's slaying, awaiting questioning by detectives to clarify the sequence of events.