NORTH LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — About half the crowd at a North Las Vegas community meeting left upset Wednesday night after police said the subject they wanted to discuss wasn’t on the agenda.
"We don't even sit at the dinner table at the kitchen anymore because I don't know who is targeting what neighborhood," Shuntee McGee said.
Mcgee is talking about her fear that something like what happened to 11-year-old Angie Erives could happen to her family.
North Las Vegas police said the girl was killed when gang members opened fire on her family's home in early November with investigators saying the gunmen intended to target another house but went to the wrong address.
The 11-year-old's murder was the first of four shootings in North Las Vegas in November where minors were killed or injured.
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"Right now I think we are all afraid. We are locking our doors. We are getting the Ring app and all these security systems and things going on, but that is not going to protect us from a bullet," Sharday Chisholm said.
Both McGee and Chisholm were among the 75 or so at the North Las Vegas Police Department's Community Connection meeting at the Alexander Library Wednesday hoping to discuss the shootings.
Many were led to the library by social media posts urging them to speak up only to find the agenda was focused on traffic enforcement.
"Honestly that addressed no one's questions in regards to the shootings that have been going on," Chisholm said. "What are we doing about it? That should have been at the top of the agenda, and I am disappointed."
North Las Vegas police said the meeting's topic was set in advance.
"We thought combining the meetings would put mixed messages out. We also didn't think canceling this meeting would put a good message out to the community," Officer Eric Leavitt said.
A police spokesperson said it was encouraging that so many people were ready to get involved and neighborhood watch groups are great ways to push criminals out of the area.
Leavitt also pointed out that arrests were made in three of the cases with none of the shootings connected.
The officer also said a lot of work has been happening behind the scenes, including the newly appointed police chief developing a plan to tackle the violence.
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"We are going to put that out in a week or so, give us some time to get that out," Leavitt said.
Those still worried about their family's safety like McGee, who said she would not let her kids eat at the dinner table for fear of random bullets, said a gang unit would help ease their concerns.
Officer Leavitt said they have officers on the county's gang task force and also have an eight-member, problem-solving unit that has been working shootings since Erives murder at the beginning of the month.
