‘He’s dying’: 911 audio details moments after North Las Vegas teen fatally shot
Emotional and panic-stricken friends were among those who called 911 after a teenage boy was fatally shot at a northwest Las Vegas Valley house party in what police are calling a gang-related killing.
The Metropolitan Police Department on Thursday released more than 30 minutes of audio from 11 calls made on Aug. 5 in the minutes before police arrived to the 5600 block of Bonita Vista Street, with one caller saying he was shot in front of the house. Arriving officers found an unresponsive teenage boy, later identified as Jayden Collins, 16, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
“I need an ambulance, they shot my homeboy,” one caller said. “Yes, he’s on the floor dying! Please come!”
Collins, 16, was pronounced dead at the scene.
‘I could hear screaming’
Collins’ death was ruled by the Clark County coroner’s office as a homicide caused by multiple gunshot wounds. On Aug. 22, police arrested 17-year-old Elijah Belt-Campbell on a charge of open murder with a deadly weapon in connection to the slaying. Collins and Belt-Campbell were members of rival street gangs, police alleged, and said a handgun was also found on Collins’ body.
Calls reporting the shooting began coming in at about 10:05 p.m., according to the audio released by Metro. An officer reported arriving to the area five minutes later.
“I was sitting in my backyard near Ann (Road) and Durango (Drive) and and definitely just heard gunshots,” one male caller said of the shooting. “I don’t know if it was in the neighborhood or not. I shoot guns so I know what guns sound like, and it sounded like it was either at the intersection or in this neighborhood where I am living.”
Other calls came from neighbors who told 911 operators they could hear screaming and saw several people scrambling to leave. Metro redacted the names of each caller.
“I could hear screaming, but I don’t know what they were screaming about,” one woman told dispatchers. “Now, I hear a bunch of vehicles going in and out of there.”
Alleged gang ties
According to Belt-Campbell’s arrest report, he admitted he shot Collins because because of Collins’ ties to a rival gang. Belt-Campbell, a lifeguard at Golden Nugget, was on probation under the Department of Juvenile Services at the time of his arrest, the arrest report said.
Detectives interviewed party goers who knew Collins and compiled a list of Instagram accounts belonging to people they believed hosted or promoted the party online. Police also obtained warrants to investigate accounts involved in a group chat about Collins’ slaying.
“Detectives observed several messages where other Instagram accounts made jokes about Jayden’s death,” the report said. “Several references were made about ‘being up on the scoreboard,’ which is a phrase used by gangs as a competitive metaphor, stating that they are ‘winning’ against their opposition. Usually refers to violent acts such as retaliation shooting, injuring or killing someone.”
Belt-Campbell has a preliminary hearing scheduled for 9 a.m. Sept. 30, online court records show. The teen is being represented by a special public defender.
Contact Casey Harrison at charrison@reviewjournal.com. Follow @Casey_Harrison1 on X or @casey-harrison.bsky.social on Bluesky.
