Gunman who shot at officer still at large

By Mary Manning

Monday, Feb. 9, 2009 | 11:01 p.m.

North Las Vegas police are still looking for the person who shot at a police officer and a city employee investigating illegal dumping Monday afternoon near Commerce Street and Reverend Wilson Avenue.

About 2:40 p.m. Monday the officer and the employee were investigating suspects in a pickup truck in a dirt lot, and 10 minutes later they reported a suspect south of the neighborhood was firing shots, police said. No one was injured, but two elementary schools were locked down and a search was conducted by a Metro Police air helicopter and North Las Vegas and Henderson Police Department K-9 units, police said.

Mackey Elementary at 2726 Englestad St. and H.P. Fitzgerald Elementary at 2651 Revere St. remained locked down for nearly 3 1/2 hours. Jeffrey Behavioral, 602 W. Brooks St., and Desert Rose High School, also known as Area Technical Trade Center, 444 W. Brooks St., were locked down and reopened at the same time as the elementary schools, police said.

By 6:20 p.m. the schools released between 500 and 600 students after the search for a suspect or a weapon proved unsuccessful, police said.

The suspect remains at large Monday night and is described as a man between 15 and 20 years old and 5-foot-8 inches tall weighing 160 pounds, police said. He was last seen wearing a black jacket, blue jeans and a black beanie cap near Shield Street and Rossmoyhne Avenue immediately after the shots were fired, police said.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (702) 385-5555.