Man accused in deadly Las Vegas shooting threatened victim several days earlier, said he’d ‘be back’: police
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A man accused of a deadly shooting in Downtown Las Vegas allegedly killed the victim because the victim robbed him, according to a report from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
On Oct. 22 at around 5 p.m., police were called to the intersection of 3rd Street and Utah Avenue after multiple 911 callers said a person was shot. Officers and medical personnel arrived and found the victim, later identified as William Gray, who was shot in the head, the report stated.
Medical personnel pronounced him dead on the scene.
Surveillance video from a nearby business showed two suspects jaywalking across Las Vegas Boulevard near Utah Avenue. Police identified one of the suspects as Shawndell Byrant, 42.
In the footage, Byrant and the other suspect walked to the corner of Utah and 3rd, where Gray walked past them. Gray appeared to talk with Bryant when he suddenly fell to the ground before Bryant bent over to grab something from Gray’s hand, according to the report.
The second suspect ran from the scene before Bryant followed him.
Surveillance video from a building showed Bryant and the other suspect enter an apartment there, leaving in an Uber around 10 minutes later.
When officers arrived at the apartment, they found Bryant’s girlfriend, who told police that Bryant called her at around 5 p.m. telling her they needed to leave and he was getting an Uber, the report stated. She told Bryant she was not going to leave, and when she got back to the apartment, he was already gone.
A witness told detectives that he was in the area about an hour before the shooting and overheard a man who was upset and “looking for Will.” The witness said the man said Gray “robbed him” and he was “going to get him,” according to the report.
The witness told police that Gray was “known in the streets” as a “deceitful drug dealer who robbed people” by “shorting” drugs or mixing the substance with baking soda. He told police that he was “not surprised that Gray was shot,” the report stated.
Gray’s girlfriend told police they were threatened by two men who “had a problem with Gray,” according to the report. She told police that on Oct. 18, two men came to their room at the bed and breakfast and threatened them with a gun.
In a video of the incident she recorded, Bryant can be heard saying “[I’ll] be back, [expletive], on my mama,” the report stated.
On Nov. 1, police arrested Byrant at an apartment in the 9300 block of Gilcrease Avenue. He was taken to the Clark County Detention Center, where he faces a charge of open murder. He also faces an unrelated charge of DUI.
His next court appearance is scheduled for Nov. 20.
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