Police seek witnesses to teen’s death

Haji Mohamed had his hands in his pockets.

The 14-year-old boy was leaving a rowdy birthday party early Saturday morning with dozens of other kids when a barrage of gunfire erupted.

Shots were fired in the air and at the crowd.

When the smoke cleared, Haji was dead.

Now Las Vegas police are begging for the public's help. Of the 40 people interviewed and the 100 people at the party, not one person came forward with credible information about the shooters.

"There are people out there who know exactly what happened and who did this. Who killed a 14-year-old boy," homicide Lt. Ray Steiber said at a news conference Wednesday.

The shooting happened about 1:30 a.m. Saturday at the Sage Point apartment complex in the 1400 block of Reno Avenue.

Steiber said there were known gang members present, but nothing illegal was going on during the party. The violence started after the adult resident of the apartment asked people to leave and people began filing out the door.

An 18-year-old man was shot and injured as he left the home.

"He was lucky. He survived. The 14-year-old boy didn't," Steiber said.

Police said a common problem in the past years has been the spread of information on social media, which leads to parties being crashed by gang members with guns.

Almost a year ago, 17-year-old Betty "Jay" Pinkney was killed in similar fashion when she was struck by a stray bullet at a house party that turned violent. That case has not yet been closed.

And in 2009, 16-year-old Aric Brill was killed at an east valley house party when uninvited gang members showed up.

"At times we see that a bunch of different folks get together, and sometimes, bad things happen," Steiber said.

Haji was enrolled at Del Sol High School this year but wasn't attending.

Steiber urged parents who might have overheard their children talking about a shooting at a party to come forward.

"That could be your kid," he said. "That could be anybody's kid."

It was the seventh homicide in Las Vegas. The department had a record low 84 homicides in 2012.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Las Vegas police homicide section at 828-3521 or, to remain anonymous, to call Crime Stoppers at 385-5555 or visit www.crimestoppersofnv.com.

Contact reporter Mike Blasky at mblasky@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0283.