Las Vegas Sun

March 18, 2024

Police: Homeless man complained about loud music before deadly shooting

Michael McNair

Michael McNair

Complaining about loud music may have led to a homeless man’s slaying Thursday night near downtown Las Vegas, according to a Metro Police arrest report.

Officers responded about 9:30 p.m. to a shooting in the 1200 block of Las Vegas Boulevard North, near Searles Avenue, and found Gordon Phillips Jr., 39, on a sidewalk, police said. He died from multiple gunshot wounds soon after at University Medical Center.

A description of the shooting suspect’s pickup truck led officers to a nearby business, where they found Michael McNair, 30, police said. He was booked on a count of murder.

A man who works with McNair told detectives he and McNair had planned on beating a homeless man who had complained that McNair was playing loud music in a parking lot, according to the report. The employee said he and McNair yelled at the man but didn’t physically confront him, police said.

The men returned to the business, but video surveillance showed that sometime after that, McNair and an unidentified man walked toward the scene of the shooting, police said.

The video captured the men running back to the business, where McNair was seen carrying a black pistol and changing from a blue shirt to a red shirt, police said.

A witness description of the shooter, who was wearing a blue shirt, matched McNair, police said.

McNair is being held without bail at the Clark County Detention Center, jail logs show. He is scheduled to appear in court Thursday.