LAS VEGAS -- Is a killer stalking the homeless of Las Vegas? Several Las Vegas police detectives are looking through incident reports from the past six years for evidence of a pattern of attacks.
The special investigation was disclosed a few weeks ago after patrol officers were asked be watchful for violence against homeless people. Homicide detectives say they have found six random attacks in the past few years, and four of those ended in murder.
"They're easy. They're out there at all hours, some have mental issues," said Homicide Lt. Lew Roberts. "Unfortunately, most of the homeless are weak and defenseless."
It doesn't take a criminal mastermind to exploit or target the homeless. They sleep in the open, often passed out. For a few bucks or a few beers, they will pummel each other senseless. And they are the least likely victims of crime to file a report with police. But veteran homicide Lt. Lew Roberts says even the homeless can't fall through the cracks when they are being murdered.
An incident in late-September at an east Las Vegas area frequented by the homeless prompted a low key, but deadly-serious investigation into a possible pattern of violence -- one that has homeless men in the crosshairs of one or more killers.
For no apparent reason, a street person was shot while sleeping at a bus stop near Cheyenne Avenue and Nellis Boulevard. He survived, but other victims did not.
The earliest incident that fits the pattern occurred in December of 2005 near a convenience store that is also on Nellis. A panhandler was shot and killed in the street as he begged for spare change.
In October of 2007 at Ali Baba and Westwind Road, another homeless man was fatally shot, again for no apparent reason.
In August of 2008, a vagrant who had just left a Circle K convenience store at the busy intersection of Sahara Avenue and Nellis was gunned down. He died a short time later.
In November of 2010, a homeless man sitting on a bus bench on Fort Apache Road was shot and killed.
On April 13 of 2011, another street person near a bus stop at Nellis and Giest Avenue, just south of Cheyenne, was shot while he was sleeping. He survived the attempted murder, as did the latest shooting victim, the homeless man who was shot on September 27.
A map of these incidents shows four of the six occurred in what police call the Nellis Corridor. Different guns were used but all were small caliber and all of the attacks were unprovoked.
"They were all homeless. They were all shot. They were all either on or near a bus bench. It's not a lot of incidents but a couple deserve our attention," said Roberts.
One other notable similarity is all six appeared to be African Americans. The first victim was a white male, but his skin was dark.
Is there a serial killer targeting homeless African Americans?
"Do we have a serial killer out there? I can't say that we do," said Roberts. "But we're still looking at information and analyzing it. When you have individuals killed along a major thoroughfare at bus stops, it's something we have to look at."
One possibility considered by detectives is that street gangs might require a random killing as part of an initiation. Roberts, a former gang officer, thinks it unlikely since killing a vagrant, unlike killing a rival gang member, would be of no practical value to a gang.
A special team is now poring through six years of incident reports to see if there may be other attacks that fit the general pattern. A similar effort three years ago helped homicide nail a serial killer who was preying on Hispanic males. Metro is hoping to get lucky again.
"Sometimes it works. That's what we're doing here -- taking a series of events, looking at similarities, weapons, casings, to narrow it down and get a suspect," said Roberts.
Both of the victims who survived their bus stop shootings declined to be of much help to police, perhaps fearing they might be targeted again if they talk. Nonetheless, detectives say they have specific suspects in the most recent attack and are hoping for more help from the public.
Metro is hoping that anyone with information about any of the attacks will call the homicide team or Crime Stoppers, or you can contact the I-Team.
Each year, between 40 and 75 homeless people die on the streets of Las Vegas from various causes, including murder or exposure to the elements.
2010 Homeless Deaths
2009 Homeless Deaths
2008 Homeless Deaths
2007 Homeless Deaths
2006 Homeless Deaths
2005 Homeless Deaths
