News briefs for May 6, 2002

Monday, May 6, 2002 | 9:39 a.m.

Man killed after firing shotgun

The name of a Metro Police officer who shot and killed a gunman last week was released this morning.

Detective Timothy Schoening shot 22-year-old Phillip Michael Ramos about 9:20 p.m. Wednesday in the area of Oakey Boulevard and Eucalyptus Avenue near Eastern Avenue.

Police say Ramos fired a shotgun blast from the bed of a pickup into the roof of Schoening's unmarked police car. Schoening, who was not hurt, fired several shots.

The driver of the pickup took Ramos to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center where he later died.

The driver and passenger in the truck, Benjyman Cortez, 39, and Ruben Vallejo, 21, were charged with attempted murder. The pair were also accused of participating in a crime in which a person died.

One man killed, one wounded

North Las Vegas Police continue to investigate what they say was a gang-related shooting that killed one man and critically injured another Friday night.

The shooting happened about 7:30 p.m. in 3700 block of Coran Lane near Texas Station.

A car carrying four people ran into a utility pole after shots were fired from another car that pulled alongside it. Two of the men in the car that crashed tried to run and were shot by people in the second car, police said.

Ernest Williams, 20, died at the scene, and the second victim, 19-year-old Clinton Reece, remained in critical condition at University Medical Center this morning. Two juvenile boys in the car were uninjured, police said.

The vehicle from which the shots originated was described only as white and possibly four-door.

Anyone with any information about this shooting is asked to call police at 633-1773 or Secret Witness at 385-5555.

Man, 39, dies in crash

A 39-year-old Las Vegas man was killed Saturday when he drove a Yamaha 4-wheel all-terrain vehicle off a 25-foot drop.

The accident happened about 6 p.m. in a desert area about 10 miles southeast of Hollywood Boulevard and Vegas Valley Drive, Metro Police said.

The rider, Donald Leath, tried to stop the ATV, but went over the drop and died at the scene, police said.

Reported cases rise 16 percent

Domestic violence reports to police rose 16 percent in the first six months of 2001 over the same period of the previous year, the state attorney general office reports.

Veronica Frenkel, domestic violence ombudsman, said the reasons include the increase in population, changes in the law and increased police training.

In the first six months of last year 11,224 incidents were reported to police. Arrests were made in 53 percent of the cases. There were no statistics on the number of convictions.

Almost 80 percent of the cases occurred in Clark County, Frenkle said, but not necessarily because more violence occurs in the south. "The high incidence of reporting in Clark County is likely a reflection of the well-developed systems in place to respond to victims of domestic violence in the region," she said.

Security breach hits McCarran

Nine flights were delayed at McCarran International Airport Friday after a security breach forced the evacuation of the A and B Gates.

The incident happened about 2:30 p.m., when at least one person went through a security checkpoint without being screened, an airport spokesperson said. The gates were evacuated and everyone was rescreened before being allowed back to the concourses.