Gunmen sought in bar slaying

Karen Zekan

Tuesday, March 23, 1999 | 11:12 a.m.

Metro Police homicide investigators are reviewing surveillance videotape for clues that could lead them to the identity of the gunmen who opened fire during a southwest Las Vegas bar robbery and killed one of its patrons.

Security cameras captured the violent attack that began about 4:30 a.m. Monday inside the Coliseum bar and restaurant, 3645 S. Durango Drive near Sahara Avenue.

The challenge for investigators is trying to find any identifiable characteristics of the gunmen who police said were wearing hooded sweat shirts and bandanas over their faces.

One of at least three gunmen jumped the bar and grabbed the bartender, holding him at gunpoint while the rest of the patrons were ordered to lie on the ground, said Lt. Wayne Petersen.

The three customers took a chance and tried to run out the door but were shot at within seconds. A female patron is believed by police to have had her arm grazed by a round, and a 33-year-old man died about five hours later at University Medical Center from a gunshot wound in his torso.

The coroner's office this morning was unable to release the man's name because family had not yet been notified. The other patron escaped unharmed, and the bartender was not injured, police said.

By the time police arrived at the business, the robbers had fled with cash from the till in an unknown vehicle.

Anyone with information on the crime is asked to call the homicide section at 229-3521 or Secret Witness at 385-5555. A $1,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the robbers' arrests and convictions.