News briefs

Friday, Dec. 17, 1999 | 11:02 a.m.

Suspect sought in October incident

Metro Police are searching for a 28-year-old man in connection with an October kidnapping and attempted robbery of a woman.

Warrants are on file charging Ron Welsh in connection with the kidnapping and attempted robbery that occurred in a parking lot at Maryland Parkway and Karen Avenue.

Welsh is white, 5 feet 9 inches tall, weighing about 160 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. He has tattoos of "WEISS REICH" on his upper right arm and "SKINHEAD" on the back of his neck.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Welsh is asked to call the Sexual Assault Detail at 229-3421 or Secret Witness at 385-5555.

Victim in critical condition at hospital

An 18-year-old man was in critical condition at University Medical Center this morning after someone shot him several times Thursday night in the 800 block of North 21st Street.

The man was able to talk with Metro Police officers who arrived at the scene. He told police a person with a rifle he didn't know approached him on the street and began shooting about 9:20 p.m. The victim told police he didn't know why the person fired at him and was only able to give police a vague description of the shooter.

Anyone with information in this case is asked to call Secret Witness at 385-5555 or Metro's Homicide Section.

Family escapes safely from blaze

The home of a family of seven was damaged Thursday in a fire, but no one was hurt.

Las Vegas firefighters were called to the 5700 block of Carl Avenue and found a blaze in the master bedroom of the one-story house. Firefighters controlled the fire in about 10 minutes, Las Vegas Fire Department spokesman Tim Szymanski said.

The homeowner was asleep in the bedroom at the time of the 12:45 p.m. fire, but he, his wife and three of his children in the house at the time were able to escape unharmed, Szymanski said.

The fire gutted the bedroom and caused heavy heat and smoke damage to the rest of the house. The damage was estimated at $25,000. The cause of the fire is believed to be accidental, but an exact cause could not be pinpointed, Szymanski said.

Arizona man's death called suicide

The death of a man whose body was found Tuesday in Lake Mead near Hoover Dam was ruled a suicide, Mohave County, Ariz., sheriff's office officials said.

He was identified as Glen Ernest Zellers, 44, of Mesa, Ariz. His body was found on a concrete ledge next to an intake tower under 300 feet of water on the Arizona side of the dam by an underwater maintenance crew. His body was first spotted by underwater cameras.

A Wednesday autopsy determined Zellers died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, officials said.

A 9 mm handgun and a shell casing was found on the ledge of the intake tower. Zellers' truck was also found with a loaded 9 mm handgun magazine inside. He was also wearing a backpack filled with rocks, officials said.

Detectives reported he told an acquaintance that if he was going to commit suicide he would shoot himself and wear a backpack full of rocks so his body would not be found.