Police ID suspect in fatal shooting

Keith Paul

Wednesday, Dec. 29, 1999 | 10:54 a.m.

Metro Police have identified a suspect in an argument that escalated to a shooting death Tuesday morning inside an East Flamingo Road bar, but they had not located him by this morning.

Two men got into an argument inside the Strike Zone bar Tuesday, police said. One of the men called three friends to come to the bar, and the four then continued the argument with the other man.

The lone man pulled out a gun and fired several shots about 4 a.m. Tuesday, police said. Jose Luciano Gonzales Jr., 26, of Las Vegas died from a gunshot wound to the chest in University Medical Center. Another of the men, a 20-year-old Las Vegan, was listed in fair condition in the hospital with two gunshot wounds to the left arm.

The gunman is believed to be driving a white Jeep Grand Cherokee and to be armed with a large caliber semiautomatic handgun. He is described as 24 years old, 6 feet 1 inch tall, weighing about 200 pounds.

He was going by the name of Jesse while at the bar, but police determined that is not his real name, Metro homicide Lt. Wayne Petersen said.

The incident in the Strike Zone was the fourth shooting at a bar this month and the third that started with an argument inside a bar.

A weekend shooting in the Caribbean Cabana on West Sahara Avenue left four people wounded. Two of those shot were treated at area hospitals and released. But a 24-year-old man was listed in serious condition and a 23-year-old woman was listed in good condition this morning at University Medical Center.

In that shooting, a man got into an argument with someone inside the bar. He left, got a gun, came back and started shooting. There were hundreds of people inside the bar at the time of the shooting Sunday about 2:50 a.m. for a radio station KCEP fund-raiser. The shooter has not been apprehended.

A similar shooting occurred Dec. 10 outside the El Potrero bar. In that shooting, a man got into an argument inside the bar and was thrown out by security. He came back minutes later, stood outside the bar and fired several shots at a group of people standing outside, police said.

Two men standing outside El Potrero were shot and a woman sitting inside the bar was hit by a bullet that came through a window. One of the men, Pedro Sanchez-Garcia, 29, of Las Vegas, died later that day from his injuries. The gunman in that shooting has not been apprehended.

During a robbery attempt at a bar on Dec. 5, Metro Officer Dennis Devitte, who was off duty at the time, shot and killed one of the gunman -- 19-year-old Emilio Rodriguez. The two other gunmen fled and have not been apprehended. Five customers were shot by the gunmen, police said.