Killing at wake a gang shooting

Keith Paul

Wednesday, May 30, 2001 | 10:10 a.m.

A drive-by shooting that killed a woman Friday and injured four others, including an 8-year-old girl, was likely done by gang members, North Las Vegas Police said.

"We don't know what the motivation was, but we have gotten some information through Secret Witness that leads us to believe that it was a gang-related shooting," Lt. Art Redcay, a department spokesman, said. "I can't say who the intended target was, but there was someone in the crowd that was likely the target."

Gwendolyn Jones, 35, was shot and killed Friday about 7 p.m. in the 2600 block of West Street, just west of the intersection of Martin Luther King Boulevard and Carey Avenue -- a neighborhood plagued in recent months by a spate of gang shootings.

Jones and others were gathered to mourn the death of her sister, who died from cancer last month.

A car drove by and someone inside the car started shooting into the crowd. The car fled the area, and Jones was left dead. Three men, ages 19 to 22, and an 8-year-old girl had all been shot, Redcay said. The four were expected to survive, police said.

While the motive was not clear, the way the shooting occurred is similar to countless gang shootings.

"Anytime someone drives by and shoots out a car into a group of people, we tend to believe it is related to gangs," Sgt. Jim Jackson said. "There could be any number of motives for the shooting. Gang members don't shoot accurately, and many times an innocent bystander gets hit."

Since Feb. 15, when a church deacon was killed by gang members shooting at another person, residents in the area have been faced with killings and shootings.

Police were at a standstill in many of the investigations because residents were fearful of retaliation from gang members.