Murder rate on record pace in Clark County

Cathy Scott

Monday, Oct. 14, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Murders in Clark County will top 200 for the first time if the current rate continues.

So far this year, 159 people have been murdered, 38 more than at this time last year.

At this pace, there will be 204 homicides in 1996, compared with 150 in 1995 and 154 in 1994.

In Metro Police's jurisdiction, which encompasses Las Vegas and unincorporated areas, there have been 136 homicides so far this year, up from 106 at this time in 1995.

Metro Lt. Larry Spinosa attributed the rate mostly to growth and the resulting increases in domestic violence, gangs and drugs.

Twenty-eight percent of Metro's homicides were attributed to domestic violence, 20 percent to drugs, 12 percent to gangs and 40 percent to unknown motives, Spinosa said.

North Las Vegas is also experiencing a dramatic increase in murders -- 18 so far this year compared with 11 at this time last year.

North Las Vegas Police Lt. Chris Larotonda, however, said there is reason for optimism because 1995 was a statistical anomaly as far as murders go.

"We were just very, very low last year," Larotonda said.

If murders hold at their current rate, North Las Vegas will not reflect an increase compared with the past five years, he said. "Obviously, one homicide is too many," he said, but he added that 20 is the average if the rate is calculated since 1991.

Larotonda said most murders in North Las Vegas have to do with drugs and gangs.

"Drugs and gangs are almost synonymous," he said.

In Metro's jurisdiction, the most notorious crime so far this year was the Sept. 7 drive-by shooting of gangsta rapper Tupac Shakur. While that murder has yet to be solved, some suspect it was the result of a Los Angeles-based gang rivalry.

The homicide increase appears to contradict a general flattening of overall crime in Las Vegas and declines across the nation.