Parents express safety concerns after Las Vegas teen beaten to death by group of juveniles
LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - Following the deadly attack on a 17-year-old Rancho High School student, FOX5 spoke to a parent and the manager of a nearby business Wednesday, who both shared safety concerns for the area.
”Do I feel that my student is at risk or possibly in danger of these incidents happening? Yes, I am, because it’s concerning,” said Rancho High School parent David Gomez II. “Every parent should be concerned, every parent should be wondering what procedures are in place to make sure that their student is safe.”
According to police, 17-year-old Jonathan Lewis was beaten to death on Nov. 1 in an alley near the school, where fights are known to happen.
“There have been numerous fights that have occurred in that alleyway. I have stopped a couple of them between one-on-one students myself picking up my student,” said Gomez. “Downtown command center should have one of those police portable cameras there constantly.”
Police said the fight was over a pair of stolen wireless headphones and possibly a vape pen, which were taken from friends of the victim, and that the group agreed to meet in the alley to fight.
Police said as soon as a punch was thrown, ten people immediately swarmed Lewis, who later died from his injuries.
“I saw the police by the alley, and I saw them trying to revive someone,” said Gilberto Estrada, manager of a business near the school. “At the time I didn’t know what was happening.”
Gomez said this could have all been prevented with added campus security monitors and more involvement from school staff and police.
“There was a bunch of kids that were running in that direction,” he said, “and my question was, why didn’t anybody called the school police?”
Eight of the suspects, ages 13 to 17, have since been arrested for the deadly attack, and Metro Police are now asking for help identifying two other “persons of interest.”
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