Tuesday, March 23, 2004 | 9:33 a.m.
Man killed in gunfight near store
An argument between two men in a convenience store Monday night apparently continued in a vacant lot behind the building, where a gunfight left a 27-year-old man dead, North Las Vegas Police said.
Gavin Austin Johnson, 27, of Las Vegas, was killed about 5:45 p.m. at 404 W. Carey Ave., near Commerce Street.
"It is possible there was a verbal exchange in the store but no actual fight there," Officer Tim Bedwell, a North Las Vegas Police spokesman said today.
No suspect information was released.
FBI joins probe of Elvis theft
The FBI has joined the investigation of the March 14 theft of $300,000 in jewelry and artifacts from the Elvis-A-Rama museum, authorities said.
The FBI's National Stolen Art File will be used in the investigation. The National Stolen Art File is a database used by law enforcement agencies throughout the nation and internationally to provide information concerning the theft of art or other artifacts with significant historical or artistic importance.
Anyone with information about the crime can call Crime Stoppers at 385-5555. Crime Stoppers is offering a reward of up to $2,000 for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of whoever stole the jewelry.
The Elvis-A-Rama museum also is offering a reward of $10,000 for that information.
Guilty plea made in dog hit case
One of the two men charged with trying to kill a Rottweiler in a Summerlin neighborhood pleaded guilty on Monday to lesser charges after he entered a plea deal with prosecutors.
Melvin Gilchrist, 26, pleaded guilty to a single felony count of resisting a public officer during a hearing before District Judge Kathy Hardcastle.
He faces one to four years in prison and a $5,000 fine when he is sentenced on May 24.
Ryan Schiestel, 25, the man authorities say paid Gilchrist to kill the dog, is expected to plead guilty Wednesday to a single count of attempting to kill an animal belonging to another person.
Authorities say Schiestel hired Gilchrist to kill or harm the Rottweiler, which had killed an Italian greyhound in the same neighborhood the day before.
Murder suspect arrested in LV
A 20-year-old man wanted in connection with an Aug. 23 murder in Dekalb County, Georgia, was arrested Friday in Las Vegas by a U.S. marshal-led fugitive hunting unit.
Bobby James Smith Jr., 20, was located at the home of another man whom marshals were investigating. Marshals said Smith gave a false name when first questioned, but fingerprints matched those of a suspect in a fatal shooting in Georgia.
Boy critical after being hit on bike
A 13-year-old boy who was struck by a vehicle while riding a bicycle in a crosswalk Monday morning remained in critical condition this morning at the University Medical Center, Metro Police said.
Police are not releasing the boy's name.
The boy was hit about 7:30 a.m. at Tropicana Avenue and Morris Street between Nellis Boulevard and Boulder Highway by a 2002 Toyota SUV driven by Erin Young, 24, of Las Vegas, police said.
Police said the driver was distracted by a ringing cell phone when the accident occurred. She was not cited, police said, noting there was shared blame -- apparent driver inattentiveness combined with a pedestrian riding a bicycle in a crosswalk instead of walking the bike across the street.
The police report will be turned over to the district attorney's office for review as to whether charges will be filed, police said.
Sprinkler may have saved boy, 7
Fire investigators believe an automatic fire sprinkler saved the life of a 7-year-old boy Monday night at an apartment complex on West Sahara Avenue.
Las Vegas firefighters responded to several calls of smoke about 8 p.m. in a first-floor apartment in the 9500 block of West Sahara Avenue near Fort Apache Road. As a precaution, several other apartments in the three-story complex were evacuated.
The fire occurred in the boy's bedroom where a mattress on a top bunk bed caught fire, apparently caused by a lamp that had been clamped to the bed. The lamp was touching the mattress and ignited it, firefighters said.
The fire did not spread to the rest of the apartment.
One sprinkler activated inside the room and doused the fire. Damage is estimated at $1,000.
Fire investigators ruled the fire an accident, Las Vegas Fire Department spokesman Tim Szymanski said.
Monday's heat set another record
Las Vegas set a heat record for the third consecutive day Monday, the National Weather Service reported.
The high of 91 degrees broke the old mark of 88 recorded on March 22, 1940.
A gradual cooling trend was expected to begin today that could lower temperatures 20 degrees by the weekend, Weather Service forecasters said.
Tree pollen soared to 39,181 grains of pollen per cubic meter of air, the Clark County Air Quality Division said Monday. Most of the pollen is due to mulberry trees.
Norovirus cases continue to rise
As the number of complaints about diarrhea and vomiting from a gastrointestinal illness continued to rise, a team of communicable disease experts arrived in Las Vegas late last week, Clark County Health District officials said Monday.
Late last week the Health District received test results indicating the presence of norovirus in three ill people who recently stayed or visited the California hotel in downtown Las Vegas. Two of the three samples were tested at the Hawaii State Public Health Laboratory and one sample was tested at the Nevada State Public Health Laboratory.
The Health District reported a total of 1,475 cases of the virus since Dec. 3, about 300 new cases since the beginning of March.
Complaints of illness may be reported to the Clark County Health District Office of Epidemiology at (702) 383-1378.
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