Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Suspect who died in home invasion incident is identified

Home invasion

Tovin Lapan

Police block off entry into La Ventana Apartment Homes, 2901 N. Rainbow Blvd., after a home invasion Monday morning, Dec. 24, 2012, left one suspect dead and three others on the run.

Updated Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012 | 7:05 p.m.

Intruder shot

The Clark County Coroner’s Office has identified the suspect who died in a home invasion shooting on Christmas Eve as Maurice Howard, 35, of Los Angeles.

Howard was one of four suspects who police say tried to invade a first-floor apartment at the La Ventana Apartment Homes, 2901 N. Rainbow Blvd. Preliminary investigation indicates that three handgun-toting men accompanied by a woman knocked on the apartment door.

Police said the assailants barged into the apartment — occupied by a couple and their infant — after a woman answered the door. They then attempted to rob the occupants and beat both of them, police said.

After the suspects fled, the victims both grabbed handguns and followed them into the parking lot, police said. The victims then shot at the suspects, striking Howard multiple times.

Police arrived around 10:10 a.m. and found Howard suffering from a gunshot wound in the parking lot. He was transported to University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. The coroner’s office is still determining a cause of death.

The other three suspects escaped in a silver 2002 Infiniti sedan. Police said the car was found a short time later inside the apartment complex parking lot, but the three suspects remain missing.

The man and woman occupying the apartment suffered minor injuries from blunt force trauma and were treated at UMC. Police said nothing in the apartment appeared to have been stolen.

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