LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Detectives believe a stray bullet that hit a Las Vegas school employee last week was fired from about a quarter mile away, documents the 8 News Now Investigators obtained and reviewed Tuesday said.
Jessie Rios, 18, faces charges of attempted murder, battery with the use of a deadly weapon, and two gun-related charges, records showed.
The campus school monitor was shot outside of Ed Von Tobel Middle School on Monday, May 8. The 8 News Now Investigators first reported the man was struck by a stray bullet.
The employee was standing outside the school when the bullet hit him around 12:30 p.m. near the intersection of Pecos Road and Carey Avenue in northeast Las Vegas. Police suspect Rios fired several rounds near Judson Avenue and Clifford Street, about a quarter mile south of the campus, documents said.
The bullet traveled north up Clifford Street, before hitting the employee, police said.
Before receiving the report of the staff member’s bullet wound, police had responded to a report 15 minutes earlier of a shooting near the Judson and Clifford intersection, documents said. Police found seven cartridge casings but no victims.
Officers also learned two cars were involved in a road-rage incident around the same time as the shooting, documents said. Police later found more spent cartridge casings at a second location near the intersection of Judson and Chrystie Lane, documents said.
A teenager later told police he was “on lunch break” from a northeast valley high school when he and his friend drove to Shadow Rock Park. Another car with several teenagers inside then pulled up. Several minutes later, a passenger in the second car began firing at the teenagers in the first car, police said.
Detectives later learned Rios was a suspect and that the two groups of teenagers are part of rival gangs, documents said. They believe the rival groups first shot at each other near Shadow Rock Park and then again south of the school, which resulted in the employee’s injury.
Investigators later located the car and Rios’ residence, they said. Police took Rios into custody, also locating several guns, they said.
While speaking to police, Rios said he did not know anything about the shooting, officers said. Video from the high school showed Rios leaving campus about 15 minutes before the shooting, police said.
The employee survived the shooting, police said. Details about his recovery were not immediately available Tuesday.
Several schools were placed in a hard lockdown while investigators set up a perimeter and ensured that children were uninjured.
After the shooting, Clark County School District Superintendent Dr. Jesus Jara said, “Community issues are creeping onto our campuses, affecting our students negatively.”
Rios remained at the Clark County Detention Center on $100,000 bail as of Tuesday, records showed. His next court date was scheduled for May 30.
