Police probe unrelated shootings; one dead

Stephen Curran and Jen Lawson

Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2005 | 11:06 a.m.

Metro Police were investigating two separate shootings this morning that were apparently self-defense -- one left an alleged home invader dead and the other left a man suffering from a shotgun blast in a trailer park.

Officers responded to the Adobe Villas apartment complex in the 3500 block of East Lake Mead Boulevard near Pecos Road after a 34-year-old shooting victim at University Medical Center told hospital personnel he had shot a would-be robber in his apartment this morning, police said.

The incident occurred between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. after the alleged intruder entered the man's second-floor apartment, Homicide Sgt. Clint Robison said.

A violent struggle followed, in which furniture and other belongings were damamged, Robison said. The apartment resident was then shot twice before he killed the intruder.

The wounded man's injuries were not life-threatening and he was recovering this morning at UMC, officials said.

Police had not released his name this morning.

Detectives are looking into whether the two men knew each other, Robison said. Evidence indicated the resident was trying to defend himself, he said, and the resident is not expected to be charged with a crime.

"It looks like self-defense," Robison said. "But usually it's the other way (with the resident as the victim)."

Police said another man may have been involved in the botched robbery attempt, but no description or information about his alleged role was available this morning.

Angel Mares, 18, said she had watched this morning from her apartment two doors away from where the shooting occurred.

She said she does not know her neighbor, but the complex was frequently the site of violence.

"I hear a lot of fights," Mares said as she held her 1-year-old son, also named Angel. "Someone is always fighting. It's crazy. That's why I'm leaving."

A second shooting this morning, also apparently a case of self-defense, occurred in a mobile home park near Craig Road and Rancho Drive, police said.

A man who lives there told police that he heard noise outside about 6:30 a.m. and saw his former roommate on a ladder, trying to get into a tall backyard shed, Officer Jose Montoya, police spokesman, said.

The resident, armed with a rifle, confronted his ex-roommate and ordered him to leave the property, but the man allegedly refused, police said.

The former roommate pulled out a knife and came toward the resident, and the resident shot him, Montoya said. The wounded man was in critical condition at UMC this morning, officials said.

Montoya said that in the last few months police had been called to investigate arguments and fights between the two men at the trailer, he said.

It was not clear this morning whether the shooter would face any charges, police said.

"Everything looks like it was self-defense," Montoya said.