Girl, father shot after vehicle cut off another, police say

After one vehicle unintentionally cut off another in North Las Vegas, police said, a 6-year-old girl was shot in the shoulder and her dad was shot in the arm and abdomen.

While the injured father and daughter were recovering at University Medical Center, a 23-year-old man who is accused of firing the shots, and his uncle, who is accused of trying to hide the gun by throwing it onto the roof of a building, were facing charges in connection with the shooting.

A North Las Vegas Police Department arrest report released Thursday offered more details about the shooting that took place in broad daylight two days earlier. Because of the multiple redactions of names and specific vehicles in the report, some of the details of what transpired were difficult to ascertain.

But police said a Nissan Pathfinder carrying a woman, man and two young girls, ages 6 and 2, was heading west on Craig Road at 10:50 a.m. Tuesday.

At Craig and Losee Road, the woman who was driving realized she was in the right turn only lane. But because she wanted to keep driving west on Craig Road, she abruptly changed lanes and cut off another vehicle, a Scion xB.

This touched off a series of events which led to another vehicle, a pickup truck, stopping in the intersection at 5th Street and Lone Mountain Road as the Pathfinder was about to make a U-turn.

At this point, police said, Donavyn Stern, who was armed with a black handgun, got out and and fired several shots into the Pathfinder. The Pathfinder drove off and ended up in the parking lot of the nearby Olive Garden restaurant on Craig Road, where 911 was called.

Police investigators appear to have been led to Stern by the license plate on the other vehicle. At one point, Stern is alleged to have said, “I’m going to jail for a long time.”

Police on Tuesday said that Stern had been arrested at a house on the 4500 block of Testarossa Lane, which is less than a half-mile from the Olive Garden. Officers doing surveillance on the house saw another man ride away on a BMX-style bike.

Police arrested Stern’s uncle, Zachary Stern, 39, outside of a vacant building on Craig Road, two doors west of the Olive Garden.

After North Las Vegas fire crews searched a rooftop and found a gun on the building, Zachary Stern admitted to having thrown it up there after his nephew had asked him to get rid of it, according to the arrest report.

Police said the firefighters were told not to touch the gun. A police crime scene investigator arrived and scaled a ladder to the roof. An officer was then seen coming back down the ladder with a green bag that appeared to be carrying an evidence box.

Donavyn Stern faces four counts of attempted murder with a deadly weapon, two counts of child abuse/neglect with a deadly weapon and two counts of battery with a deadly weapon resulting in substantial bodily harm, his arrest report shows.

Zachary Stern also faces multiple charges including destroying or concealing evidence, possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and possession of a concealed weapon without a valid permit to carry a concealed weapon, according to his arrest report.

Contact Brett Clarkson at bclarkson@reviewjournal.com.