Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Spurned bartender targets female co-worker in shooting at tavern, police say

Shooting at Bomas

Jackie Valley

Metro Police are investigating a triple shooting at Bomas Bar & Grill, 8020 S. Durango Drive, on Thursday, April 12, 2012.

The booking photo for James Keck, 42, who was arrested on three counts of attempted murder, four counts of assault with a deadly weapon and two counts of burglary with a deadly weapon following a shooting Thursday at a bar in the southwest valley that left three people injured.

The booking photo for James Keck, 42, who was arrested on three counts of attempted murder, four counts of assault with a deadly weapon and two counts of burglary with a deadly weapon following a shooting Thursday at a bar in the southwest valley that left three people injured.

Map of Bomas Bar & Grill

Bomas Bar & Grill

8020 S. Durango Drive, Las Vegas

A man arrested Thursday after a shooting at a southwest valley bar that wounded three people was a bartender and was targeting a co-worker who had turned down his romantic advances, Metro Police said.

James Keck, 42, walked into the Bomas Bar & Grill, 8020 S. Durango Drive, about 1:30 p.m. Thursday armed with a 12-gauge shotgun and opened fire, police said.

Three females were injured during the shooting, including one woman who was shot in the chest and was in critical but stable condition at University Medical Center.

Another woman, who was shot in the arm, was in stable condition at the hospital, and a third, who was shot in the hand, was treated and released at the scene, police said.

According to an arrest report, Keck was a bartender at Bomas who had been suspended from work Wednesday for failing a drug test.

The target of the shooting is believed to be a female employee who had rejected Keck’s romantic advances, the arrest report said.

About 12:30 p.m. on the day of the shooting, Keck left the woman a voicemail threatening to kill her, police said.

Upon entering at the bar, Keck began yelling at the woman and fired several shots, according to witness statements given to police. The woman fled out the back of the bar and into the nearby BEK Gaming business, which also houses the bar’s administrative offices, police said.

Keck followed, firing one shot to break through the building’s glass door and then firing several shots at a door people in the building had barricaded themselves behind, police said.

It was inside BEK Gaming that one woman was shot in the chest and another was shot in the left arm, according to the arrest report.

The woman Keck was allegedly targeting was shot in her right hand while fleeing, police said.

Officers were preparing to engage Keck when he stuck his shotgun out of the door of BEK Gaming and exited with his hands in the air, the report said.

Buckshot and slug ammunition littered the parking lots of both businesses after the shooting, and police found additional unused ammunition in Keck’s pocket, the report said.

Keck was arrested on three counts of attempted murder, four counts of assault with a deadly weapon and two counts of burglary with a deadly weapon. He was being held without bail at the Clark County Detention Center and is scheduled to make a court appearance Monday.

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