1 dead, 3 at large in home invasion at apartment complex

By Tovin Lapan

Monday, Dec. 24, 2012 | 3:12 p.m.

A suspect is dead and police are seeking three of his cohorts after an apparent home invasion Monday morning at a Las Vegas apartment complex.

Metro Police responded about 10:10 a.m. Monday to La Ventana Apartment Homes, 2901 N. Rainbow Blvd., near West Cheyenne Avenue, after a 911 call from neighbors.

Metro Lt. Ray Steiber said four suspects – at least one of them carrying a firearm – knocked on the door of a first-floor apartment occupied by a couple and their infant. The assailants barged in when the woman occupant answered the door. The intruders were met with armed resistance.

Witnesses reported hearing gunfire exchanged, first inside the apartment and then outside.

“There was a multitude of gunfire,” Steiber said Monday afternoon as police continued their investigation into the incident. “We believe some occurred in the residence and then it carried out into the parking lot.”

When police arrived, they found one of the suspects shot in the parking lot. The suspect was taken to University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

The other three suspects – described as two black men and one black female, all wearing dark clothing – fled on foot and remained at large midafternoon Monday. Police impounded a silver Infiniti G35 sedan thought have been used by the suspects and left in the parking lot of the apartment complex.

Steiber said the man and woman occupying the apartment suffered minor injuries and were being treated at UMC. The injuries, Steiber said, were not from gunfire. The infant was not injured in the melee.

After blocking entry into the apartments, police now are allowing residents to return to their homes.

Steiber said police have not identified a motive. He said he did not know if the apartment occupants had any relation to the suspects.