Las Vegas Sun

March 18, 2024

Reports of gunman lead to neighborhood evacuation

Silverado Courtyard gated community

Craig Peterson

A garage in the Silverado Courtyard gated community is damaged Saturday, July 12, 2014.

Updated Saturday, July 12, 2014 | 3:21 p.m.

Click to enlarge photo

Metro Police officers block streets around the Silverado Courtyard gated community near South Maryland Parkway and Pyle Avenue after residents report hearing gunshots and seeing a person with a firearm.

Update, 3:15 p.m.: Metro Police say they have checked the neighborhood and no suspects have been found. Officers said that the "gunshots" residents heard were controlled explosions SWAT members use. The "flashbangs" are used to temporarily blind suspects and protect officers who have to enter an unsecured space.

Residents of a south valley neighborhood have been evacuated and others ordered to stay inside their homes as SWAT and Metro Police officers respond to reports that an armed person has barricaded themselves inside a home.

A resident reported hearing at least two gunshots about 2 p.m., though the scene has been relatively quiet since.

About 9 a.m., a resident of a home in the Silverado Courtyard gated community near South Maryland Parkway and Pyle Avenue told police they saw a person pointing a gun at them through a window, and when they left the home, the person gained entry and barricaded themselves inside.

Police blocked access to the neighborhood and closed nearby roads as the SWAT team arrived.

"It was freaking me out as I was getting ready this morning," said Curtis Reames, a resident who witnessed the events as they unfolded.

Reames said he lives directly across from the house on the 10000 block of Keystone Pastures Street. When he awoke, he looked out his window and saw a Metro officer speaking to a resident in the street. About 9:30 a.m., police approached the house, then suddenly withdrew, Reames said, as if they had seen a threat. Then more cruisers arrived, and officers armed themselves with rifles, he said.

"It was scary to see two cops running from a situation that they're obviously trained for," Reames said.

A resident of the community for about 14 years, Reames was able to leave his home about 10 a.m. to go to work but found the area cordoned off by police at 1 p.m. when he returned.

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