Two men killed today outside billiards room

Jen Lawson

Monday, Oct. 28, 2002 | 11:59 a.m.

Two men were killed in the Commercial Center on Sahara Avenue near Maryland Parkway just before 5 a.m. today.

Metro Police said people inside the Las Vegas Cue Club, a 24-hour billiards room, heard shots and called police.

Police arrived and found two men lying next to each other in the parking lot.

Police on the scene had not made tentative identifications of the two men and declined to say more about the slayings.

The slayings were a blow to the shopping center that was part of Clark County's urban renewal program in the 1960s.

The project, a complex that consists of a large parking lot surrounded by businesses, was the subject of a multi-agency task force raid in 2000 after Metro logged 387 calls to the property during a six-month period. Police calls included gunshots and gang activity, Metro officials said.

The raid also came two weeks after store owners sued the county, alleging it failed to keep up the parking lot and sidewalks. As part of the urban renewal program the county had agreed to pay for upkeep of the parking lots and sidewalks.

The county now has proposed a new tax through a special improvement district on the 26 businesses in the complex to pay for renovation.

The county has estimated renovation will cost $3.5 million and the special assessments will bring in $272,429 a year.