Southeast valley neighborhood no longer locked down

By Tiffany Gibson, Mary Manning

Published Monday, Oct. 5, 2009 | 4:48 p.m.

Updated Monday, Oct. 5, 2009 | 7:48 p.m.

Police swarmed a Las Vegas Valley neighborhood about 4 p.m. today after a police helicopter spotted a gun in the backyard of a house at 1544 Bright View Drive.

The neighborhood is west of Eastern Avenue, east of Paradise Road and north of Warm Springs Road.

Negotiators ordered neighbors out of their houses because of reports of gunshots and racial slurs that apparently had been made, Metro Police Sgt. John Loretto said.

Many neighbors said they only heard one gunshot that was possibly fired by a police officer when he was rushing people out of the area.

Neighbor Mary Alwood said her sister was with the officer when he accidentally fired at the ground. She said the whole thing happened so fast she didn’t know what was going on.

“I heard the helicopter flying and looked outside,” Alwood said. “A police officer grabbed me and said ‘we’re having an incident.’”

Loretto said Metro Police are investigating whether an officer did accidentally fire his gun.

Neighbor Charlie Gagliano said he knew a party was going on at the house, but the residents weren’t being loud.

“Usually this is a quiet neighborhood,” Gagliano said. “I heard a shotgun blast and then five people were arrested.”

Five people inside the house have been taken into custody, but Loretto said he’s not sure if any arrests will be made. He said a teenage boy was inside the house and wouldn’t come out until negotiations were able to speak to him.

At 6 p.m. the boy left the house and Loretto said Metro Police are continuing to investigate why he wouldn’t leave.