Man accidentally shoots acquaintance

David Kihara

Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2004 | 9:59 a.m.

A man apparently accidentally shot an acquaintance in the head Tuesday night in downtown Las Vegas, police said.

The victim, who was taken to University Medical Center immediately after the shooting about 7:45 p.m., was expected to die from the gunshot wound in the head, a police official said Tuesday.

Metro Police Sgt. Kevin Manning said the bullet went from one side of the victim's head to the other, remaining in his head.

Witnesses told police that the victim, who is in his mid-20s and was identified only by his street name "Bunt," was at his apartment on North 15th Street near the corner of Fremont Street with three friends or acquaintances, police said.

One of the men inside, who police identified only by his nickname, "Wicked," accidentally fired the gun at Bunt, then fled, police were told.

"When we arrest him, he will be charged with manslaughter," Manning predicted.

From the initial investigation, it does not appear that the shooting was intentional and there was "no conflict" between the victim Bunt and the shooter, Manning said. It is being treated as an "accidental discharge of a firearm," he said.

Two individuals -- a man and a woman whose identities were not released by police Tuesday night -- witnessed the shooting, police said. Both individuals, who remained at the scene to answer questions posed by police detectives, refused to be interviewed by the Sun on Tuesday night.

The police were alerted to the shooting by a 911 call, Manning said.

One woman who was familiar with Bunt said that even though the victim "was the gangster type, he was cool."

"He was a nice guy," said Tiffany, a woman who said she had known Bunt for about two months. She also referred to him "J.T."

Police did not attribute any gang-related activity to the shooting and would not say Tuesday if Bunt was in a gang.

Tiffany, who refused to provide her last name because, she said, she did not want to get involved, also said that she had become familiar with the victim when she visited her friend's apartment. Her friend lived in the apartment above Bunt.

One relative of the victim who arrived at the scene of the shooting about half an hour after the incident refused to answer questions about the victim.