Police suspect 5 shooters involved, I-Team first reported Monday
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Crime scene photos obtained by the 8 News Now I-Team show the aftermath of the mass shooting inside an unlicensed Las Vegas hookah lounge where five shooters killed one man and injured more than a dozen others.
The shooting happened around 3:15 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 26, at Manny’s Glo Afterdark Lounge on East Sahara Avenue near Maryland Parkway.
As the I-Team previously reported, detectives determined the shootout began in a VIP area, comprised of several couches, tables and booths. They located 25 cartridge cases in the area. There were also bullet impacts on the walls, a table and some couches, police said.
Photos show the room in disarray, with overturned furniture dotted with debris and evidence markers.
Demetreus Beard, known to his friends as “Avion,” 33, died from multiple gunshot wounds. Thirteen other people, including the man accused of shooting Beard, Lee Wilson, 44, were hurt.
Wilson faces one charge of murder and several counts of attempted murder. As the I-Team first reported Monday, grand jury transcripts reveal police suspect there were four other shooters, including Wilson.
Police have not named any other suspects, only saying publicly that others were involved.
“As we know of now, we believe there were approximately five inside,” a Las Vegas Metro police homicide detective told a grand jury according to transcripts. The detective later said the investigation is ongoing as to who the shooters were.
Wilson previously told a judge he was shot six times in the gunfire exchange.
“I watched him pull out his gun and I watched him do the firing,” a shooting victim told the grand jury about Wilson. “He was the first one to fire at the other guy and the other guy turned around, fell on the ground and started firing back at him.”
“How many, if you can recall, only if you can recall, how many shots did you hear coming from the person you identified?” a prosecutor asked the shooting victim.
“More like 20 shots,” she replied. “It was a lot. He just kept shooting, he just wouldn’t stop.”
“Okay. And then there was somebody else who was shooting as well; correct?” the prosecutor asked.
“Yeah,” the shooting victim responded. “They were just dropping, people were dropping all around me.”
The county suspended the lounge’s business license after the shooting. When police informed the county about the shooting, it was learned the lounge was serving alcohol and hookah and operating as a nightclub, all without the proper licenses.
Wilson has pleaded not guilty. During his first court appearance, a prosecutor said Wilson has an extensive criminal history dating back to 1995, including 82 arrests and nine felony convictions.
The I-Team found Wilson shot two dogs in North Las Vegas in 2002, injuring them. A judge sentenced him to more than a year in prison.
In an incident in December 2018, a video shows Wilson and a group of other men leaving a bar near Flamingo Road and Arville Street when Wilson and two others start firing, prosecutors said.
Several people were hurt in the shooting. Wilson was charged with two counts of attempted murder and other gun-related charges.
Wilson ended up taking a plea deal for one count of discharging a firearm into an occupied structure or vehicle and was sentenced to a minimum of one year in prison.