Shooting death, child drowning mar holiday

Friday, July 5, 2002 | 11:03 a.m.

Colorful fireworks sparkled in the night sky, but Southern Nevada's Fourth of July holiday was marred by a shooting death and a drowning.

Despite those incidents the holiday was relatively subdued as police and fire crews reported few problems.

"We had the usual brush fires and Dumpster fires, but it was a fairly quiet Fourth of July," Las Vegas Fire Department spokesman Tim Szymanski said. "It wasn't as bad as we thought it was going to be."

While firefighters were knocking out the results of misused and illegal fireworks, Metro Police were finding that the holiday was much like any other night.

"We usually have about 600 to 700 more calls for service on the Fourth of July, and that's what we had last night," Metro spokesman Sgt. Chris Darcy said. "On holidays we usually have more calls for noise and public disturbances with people getting a little rowdy at parties and barbecues."

Metro responded to about 3,500 calls Thursday, according to dispatchers. There were no reported incidents of terrorism, Darcy said.

Metro officers did respond to a Western High School soccer field about 6 a.m. Thursday and found a man dead from apparent gunshot wounds, Lt. Tom Monahan said.

The name of the dead man has not yet been released by the Clark County coroner's office.

Metro detectives arrested Rex Adams, 21, after a brief struggle at his home, 300 Stanford St., near Washington Avenue and Decatur Boulevard. He was taken to the Clark County Detention Center and charged with murder with a weapon.

An investigation into the shooting led police to Adams, and police are still trying to determine a motive, Monahan said.

Detectives with Metro's abuse and neglect unit were also busy with an investigation into the drowning death of an 18-month-old boy at the Rancho Viejo Apartment complex, 7885 W. Flamingo Road near Buffalo Drive.

Clark County Fire Department paramedics were called to the apartments about 1:20 p.m. Thursday, fire department spokesman Bob Leinbach said.

The child's mother and uncle had been in the pool with the boy as he floated in an inflatable device, Leinbach said.

Paramedics found the boy lying on the tiles next to the pool, Leinbach said. He was taken by ambulance to University Medical Center's Children's Emergency Room and was pronounced dead, he said.

"He had a lot of water in his lungs," Leinbach said. "That would account for the fact we couldn't do anything for him."

During the 1990s, Leinbach said, most drownings occurred in backyard pools at private homes. But lately drownings have occurred in apartment and community pools, in addition to children drowning in bathtubs.

Last year fire and rescue crews responded to 59 children under the age of 14 who were victims of drowning or near-drowning accidents. Eight of those children died and 10 others suffered permanent brain damage.

This year eight accidental drownings have occurred, including two babies who drowned in their bathtubs.

After sunset Thursday, firefighters and police responded to numerous reports of brush fires, flaming roofs and Dumpsters ablaze as fireworks lit up the darkness.

The worst fire of the night resulted in six people being evacuated from an eastern Las Vegas apartment building about 3 p.m., Szymanski said.

Fire investigators said they suspect that fireworks caused the blaze at the Oasis Springs Apartments at Nellis Boulevard and Stewart Avenue. Witnesses told firefighters that children were throwing smoke bombs in the neighborhood.

Two women and four children, ages 6 to 14, were asleep in an apartment when the fire started on a second-floor balcony, Szymanski said. One of the women was treated for smoke inhalation at the scene, and everyone else escaped without injury.

The fire caused an estimated $35,000 in damage to the apartment and its attic.

The American Red Cross was assisting the family, who had just arrived from Texas.

Clark County firefighters are investigating an arson fire that caused $50,000 in damage to the Kimberly Place Apartments, 895 Sierra Vista Drive, near Swenson Street.

No arrests have been made in connection with the blaze that started about 5:45 p.m., Leinbach said.

Las Vegas visitors arrived and departed on time at McCarran International Airport despite a deadly shooting in Los Angeles. Three people, including the gunman, were shot to death and four others injured at the Los Angeles International Airport Thursday afternoon.