Tragic misunderstanding leads to shooting death through door

The man who was shot and killed through the front door of a west valley couple's apartment Wednesday morning died as the result of a tragic misunderstanding, his friend told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Jonathan Wade, who lives at the Residence at Canyon Gate, was hosting his friend the night of the shooting. He said his buddy wandered off and mistakenly knocked on the wrong door — a decision that would cost him his life.

Richard Rizal McGee, 31, died when he was shot by his friend's neighbor at the apartment complex, near where Sahara Avenue and Fort Apache Road meet.

Police on the day of the shooting said the couple at 2200 Fort Apache Road, who Metro have not identified, feared for their lives as McGee pounded on their door just before 5 a.m. while screaming and yelling.

They couldn't see the man behind their metal door with a small peephole. After warning him that they were armed and telling him to stop trying to enter their home, the woman called 911 for help.

But before police could arrive, the man who lives in the apartment shot through the door multiple times, killing McGee on the other side.

Four bullet holes covered by blue tape marked that door Monday morning. Two of the bullets continued into the door of a vacant unit directly across.

McGee died of a gunshot wound to the neck and torso, and his death was ruled a homicide, according to the Clark County coroner's office.

It didn't have to happen, Wade said Monday at his apartment two buildings away from where his friend of 10 years died.

"I was in complete disbelief," he said of the moment, about 10 a.m. Wednesday, when police told him of the death.

Less than 12 hours earlier, the friends were enjoying a typical Las Vegas night out.

McGee was on winter break from his last year in law school. He came to Las Vegas from Huntington Beach, Calif., to visit Wade for the holidays, and the two, along with another friend, Cameron Derby, decided to spend an evening clubbing.

They started out just before midnight at Hyde nightclub inside Bellagio, where they enjoyed themselves until about 2:30 a.m., Wade said. Afterward, the trio used the ride-hailing app Uber to continue the evening at Crazy Horse, a strip club about 3 miles away.

By 4 a.m., Wade said, they were ready to call it a night. He ordered another Uber ride to his home and went to settle the bill.

"As I was paying the bill, for some reason, they (McGee and Derby) hopped in the car, maybe not realizing that I wasn't in the car yet," Wade said.

The pair headed into the 42-degree December night for Wade's apartment — without him.

Wade would never again see the friend he met while counseling for the Boys & Girls Club in Orange County.

After calling a cab, Wade arrived home around 4:40 a.m. to find only Derby at his door and no sign of McGee.

"That's when it gets kind of foggy, because his (McGee's) phone dies when I call him," Wade said.

Assuming McGee was safe, the other two men went about their evening. Derby left Wade's apartment, and Wade waited up for as long as he could and left the door unlocked for his friend before finally falling asleep.

"He (McGee) could have met a girl somewhere, he could have, you know, went to go eat across the street," Wade said.

But he didn't. Less than 20 minutes after Wade said he settled in at home, police were called to a homicide inside the apartment complex, logs show.

The man who would fire the shots and his girlfriend were home sleeping when they awoke to what they thought was an intruder at 4:59 a.m. It was McGee.

Metro Lt. Dan McGrath did not know Wednesday why McGee was at the couple's apartment, which is inside a gated complex surrounded by tall fencing, but speculated McGee might have been under the influence.

One possibility, Wade said, is that after McGee separated from the group, he wandered off in search of his other friend's apartment in the same complex. That unit is directly behind the building where McGee was shot.

"When the Uber parked, they both got out of the car," Wade said. "So I don't know if they both came here (Wade's apartment), and my door was locked," Wade said.

Derby told Wade he did not know why McGee left on his own. "He could have just been lost," Wade said.

There are three pool areas in the block-long complex and winding sidewalks between more than 20 similar-looking, two-story buildings.

McGee had visited his friend's home just one other time.

It was not until later Wednesday morning that Wade really began to worry.

"By 7 or 8, there was still nothing," he said. "Right when I was going to make a call to see if he got picked up anywhere, I got a call from a detective."

That detective produced more questions than answers, Wade said, and left him thinking his friend was in trouble with police. He waited until about 10 a.m., then called back but still received little insight. At about that time, he heard a knock on his door. It was a Metro detective bearing tragic news.

"He told me that Ric was shot and killed that morning," Wade said of the person on the other line.

Based on the 911 call, evidence at the scene and a neighbor's statement, McGrath said Wednesday that charges are unlikely against the man who fired the shots.

In an email Monday, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, law professor Addie Rolnick said "the letter of the law in Nevada is that on(e) can claim self-defense as long as one reasonably fears that someone is about to break into one's home. ... So, whereas other state laws might require that an intruder actually be in your home, or be on a connected porch, Nevada's law is worded in a way that could cover, for example, someone in your yard, as long your fear of intrusion was reasonable."

McGrath referenced audio heard on the 911 tapes, writing in an email Monday that McGee was "trying to forcibly enter the apartment."

"So, he was not just 'looking' for the apartment when he was shot," McGrath added.

A similar incident in June 2014 also resulted in no charges. In that incident, a Las Vegas Fire Department captain shot a man through his front door.

Jeremy Thompson, 22, had come to the door by mistake after confusing Victor Thompson's home near Fort Apache and Elkhorn roads with a home he had just left. The two men were not related.

Victor Thompson fired through the closed door, striking Jeremy Thompson's friend, Devin Lamere, in the chest. Lamere, an airman first class, was 21.

"The question is not whether the drunk person actually meant to do harm, but whether the person in the home (1) believed he posed a threat and (2) was reasonable in believing that," Rolnick said.

Multiple friends of McGee described him as nonviolent, quiet and small in stature. Wade wants people to know McGee was a good man with a bright future.

"He wanted to travel and surf the world," Wade said with a smile, "which he did."

The case, once complete with reports from the coroner and detectives, will be packaged and sent to the district attorney's office for evaluation. It had not been handed up as of Monday afternoon.

District Attorney Steve Wolfson declined to comment.

"Any loss of a life is tragic but given the circumstances that we know at this point, this should not have happened," McGrath said.

— Contact Kimberly De La Cruz at kdelacruz@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Follow her on Twitter: @KimberlyinLV