Metro police announced an arrest four days after a fight in an Arts District crowd ended in gunfire, and have not released the suspect’s name. Two other people were shot, and police have not said who they are or what started the fight.
Gunfire broke out at South Main Street and West Charleston Boulevard shortly after 10 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 2, during First Friday in the Arts District. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officers in the area heard shots at about 10:17 p.m., ran into the crowd and found two people with gunshot wounds. Other officers found a third victim. All three were taken to a hospital, and one of them died.
The department’s Homicide Section said detectives determined a physical fight among several people came first. An unknown male then produced a firearm and began shooting, hitting multiple people, and ran before officers arrived. Homicide Lt. Robert Price said the two surviving victims have injuries that are not life-threatening. Police have not publicly said what the fight was about or who was in it.
The person who died was Carth Onasi Jacobs-Rodgers, 15, who went by Carth Onasi. His family identified him on Oct. 4. They said he was a sophomore at Desert Pines High School and the oldest of nine children, and that he loved boxing, basketball and video games and making people laugh.
On Tuesday, Oct. 6, police arrested a 17-year-old and booked him into Clark County Juvenile Hall on one count of murder with a deadly weapon and two counts of attempted murder with a deadly weapon.Police have not released his name.
The juvenile hall booking does not mean the case stays in juvenile court. Under Nevada law, murder or attempted murder committed by a child 16 or older is not a delinquent act, and the juvenile court has no jurisdiction over the person charged, nor over any related offense arising from the same facts. He appeared in court Wednesday, Oct. 7, as an adult defendant.
Former Clark County District Attorney David Roger said a case like this moves forward either through a preliminary hearing, where a judge decides whether probable cause exists, or through a grand jury presentation. He said a defendant who was under 18 at the time of the crime cannot face the death penalty or life without parole if convicted.
The First Friday Foundation said it is heartbroken and will respond on the future of the event before announcing or planning any more. The 18b Arts District Neighborhood Association said it will work to make First Friday safer. Mayor Pro Tem Olivia Diaz offered sympathy to the victims and their families. The City of Las Vegas said it plans to meet with Metro about the event and what happens next.
Four days passed between the shooting and an arrest, and the department’s account so far covers a fight, a gun and a teenager in custody. It does not cover the two people who were wounded or the people who were in the fight. The First Friday Foundation has said it will decide on future events before announcing any, and the next one falls on the first Friday of November.
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