Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Four gang suspects attending school

Clark County School District officials say they're keeping close tabs on a small group of students who police say are responsible for a brutal attack that left one teenage victim with a crushed face.

Nine young men, alleged members of the 311 Boyz gang, have been charged in the July attack on 17-year-old Stephen Tanner Hansen, whose face was crushed by a rock pitched through the window of a truck.

Police say most of the gang members met at Centennial High School and videotaped themselves instigating fights, staging brawls and attacking victims in neighborhoods throughout the northwest Las Vegas Valley.

Len Paul, superintendent of the northwest region, said at least four of the indicted teens have been attending classes since their release on bail. Administrators have met individually with the students and their parents and devised a "slate of expectations," Paul said.

"So far we've had no discipline issues, no complaints from other students or parents," Paul said. "If it weren't for the media coverage, you wouldn't know anything was different at any of the schools."

If their presence becomes a distraction or if safety concerns are raised, Paul said he would talk to the parents about educational alternatives that would remove the students from campus, such as correspondence classes.

That's about all school district officials say they can legally do until the charges against the group are resolved in court. But Marzette Lewis, a frequent critic of the school district, told board members Thursday the arrests and videotape evidence should have been enough to warrant expulsion.

"I can't see how any of these boys should in school and not behind bars," Lewis said. "These kids do not have a right to an education ... if these were African-American boys they would be behind bars already."

Lewis' comments drew no response from board members during the meeting.

Board member Shirley Barber said later she understood Lewis' concerns.

"I wouldn't want my kids in school with them," said Barber, a former principal. "What the police are saying those boys did is frightening enough for me."

But deciding whether someone poses a threat to society is a job for a judge at a bail hearing -- not a principal, superintendent or school board, said Bill Hoffman, the school district's attorney.

"While the charges are pending and they are free on bail, they are entitled to be in school," Hoffman said Thursday.

There would be more leeway if the alleged crimes took place during school hours or on campus, Hoffman said. Under those circumstances, the district would likely have the right to suspend a student until the completion of an investigation, Hoffman said.

Police say the gang formed earlier this year through relationships formed in school, with most of the teens having attended Centennial High School. The alleged activity picked up this summer.

Charged in the attacks are Steven Gazlay, 18; Dominic Harriman, 19; twins Anthony and Brandon Gallion, 16; Ernest Bradley Aguilar, Jeff Hart and Matthew Costello, all 17; Christopher Farley and Scott Morse, both 18. All but Hart have been released on $40,000 bail each, although prosecutors are seeking to raise that amount to $500,000.

According to school district records, all of the young men have connections to northwest high school campuses. Gazlay is listed as having dropped out Centennial High School in April 2001, his freshman year. In an earlier interview with the Sun, Gazlay said he attended Cimarron-Memorial High School until last year. District officials say they have no record of Gazlay attending that campus.

District records show Farley and Costello both withdrew from Centennial in January as juniors. Harriman graduated from Cimarron-Memorial in 2002, while Morse is 2003 graduate of Centennial. Hart and Aguilar are seniors at Centennial. The Gallion brothers are juniors at the new Shadow Ridge High School, also located in the district's northwest region.

Anthony Gallion was barred earlier this week from taking the field as member of Shadow Ridge's football team. Superintendent Carlos Garcia extended the ban on participating in extracurricular activities to include all of the alleged members of the so-called 311 Boyz.

The threshold for denying participation in after-school activities is lower than the one for blocking a student's right to a public education, Hoffman said.

As the district grapples with handling the 311 Boyz, School Board member Larry Mason said he's frustrated by the limits placed on educators.

"Maybe it's time to take a look at those laws so that school districts have more say," School Board member Larry Mason said Thursday. "We hold teachers and administrators accountable for their actions when they're off campus. Maybe students need to be held to the same standard."

Mason said he wanted to know why the 311 Boyz allegedly chose a name and symbol -- the iron cross -- that appear to have connections white supremacy.

The number 311 is believed to be a reference to the Ku Klux Klan, because "K" is the 11th letter of the alphabet.

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