1 suspect accused of murder in custody
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A mass shooting at an unlicensed Las Vegas hookah lounge that left one man dead and a dozen more injured involved five shooters, but only one man is in custody, the 8 News Now I-Team has learned.
The shooting happened around 3:15 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 26, at Manny’s Glo Afterdark Lounge on East Sahara Avenue near Maryland Parkway. At some point, a fight broke out between several people. At least one attendee was a known gang member, police said.
Demetreus Beard, known to his friends as “Avion,” 33, died from multiple gunshot wounds. Thirteen other people, including the man accused of shooting him, Lee Wilson, 44, were hurt.
Several people took out firearms during the fight, resulting in Beard’s death and the dozen injured, police said. As of Monday, Wilson is the only named shooter.
“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.
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.
“I watched him pull out his gun and I watched him do the firing,” a shooting victim told the grand jury. “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 witness also told the grand jury attendees did not go through a metal detector before entry, but were wanted.
Wilson is facing one count of open murder and 12 counts of attempted murder with the use of a deadly weapon. He told a judge he was shot six times in the gunfire exchange.
The county suspended the lounge’s 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.
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.
Video obtained by the I-Team shows Wilson firing a weapon three years earlier in an incident that sent him to jail for a year.
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.