Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2018 | 7:36 p.m.
Gunfire erupted at an east valley short-stay apartment complex Tuesday afternoon, striking three people, one who died and another who was critically injured, according to Metro Police.
The third person, an 18-year-old man, suffered survivable wounds, said Lt. Ray Spencer in an online briefing.
Shots rang out about 2:30 p.m. in a unit at the Sportsman's Royal Manor Apartments, off Boulder Highway near Tropicana Avenue, police said. One of the two rooms had been converted into a makeshift recording studio, Spencer said.
Investigators believe there were five people inside the apartment at the time of the shooting, three who lived there and two who were guests, Spencer said.
Sometime during the visit, one of the occupants thought a robbery was about to take place, Spencer said. That prompted an argument, which escalated into the shooting.
It wasn't immediately clear how many weapons were drawn, but police recovered a rifle, Spencer. Investigators were trying to determine who opened fire.
The slain victim was one of the guests, Spencer said. The 18-year-old, an apartment resident who was shot twice, and an unidentified person, who was critically injured, were taken to University Medical Center.
Police recovered a backpack, which was ditched near the complex by someone after the shooting, and were in the process of going through it, Spencer said. Detectives were exploring the possibility that the shooting may have stemmed from narcotics.
