CORONER’S JURY DECIDES FATAL SHOOTING JUSTIFIED

A coroner's jury deliberated about an hour Friday night before ruling that a Henderson police officer acted justifiably when he shot and killed an ice cream truck driver near Coronado High School.

The dead woman's husband, Zyber Selimaj, was present when the jury's five men and two women returned their unanimous verdict, but he declined to comment.

"Understandably, the Selimaj family is very disappointed by the current shortcomings of the coroner's inquest process," said Selimaj family attorney Mario Lovato, who attended the two-day inquest.

Officer Luke Morrison, 23, testified Friday that he had no choice but to fire his gun at Deshira Selimaj on Feb. 12.

Morrison said he fired the shot that killed the 42-year-old woman after she raised a knife in the direction of another officer who had tried to incapacitate her with a stun gun.

"She was that close to him," Morrison said.

Morrison, who joined the Henderson Police Department about two years ago, said he would do "the exact same thing" if faced with the same situation again.

Officer Anthony Pecorella, who testified earlier Friday, credited Morrison with saving his life.

Pecorella said Morrison shot the woman after she lunged at him with a knife.

"I believed at that point she was going to try and kill me with that knife," Pecorella said.

MONDAY

City revokes center's license

The Las Vegas City Council revoked the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada's license and fined the business $500,000.

The city suspended the license on Feb. 29, two days after health investigators announced that unsafe practices at the clinic meant that 40,000 patients should get tested for hepatitis and HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

The business has other clinics outside of the city of Las Vegas.

"All we have jurisdiction over is their city license," Mayor Oscar Goodman said. "We've gone to the full extent of our jurisdiction."

TUESDAY

Mysterious death of 'Buffalo Jim'

Citing bizarre twists surrounding the death of their father, James "Buffalo Jim" Barrier, the iconic auto mechanic's daughters said they plan to hire a private investigator to determine how Barrier died.

"I just want people to take this seriously, because it was definitely a murder," Jennifer Barrier, 24, said. "It's a mystery, and it needs to be solved."

James Barrier, known for a long-running feud with Rick Rizzolo, former owner of the neighboring Crazy Horse Too topless cabaret, recently had received a barrage of death threats.

Barrier, 55, was found dead last Sunday by a maid in a Motel 6 room at 4125 S. Boulder Highway.

WEDNESDAY

Gaming revenues drop in February

Despite a month that included Chinese New Year, Super Bowl weekend, the three-day Presidents Day weekend, a favorable calendar and one extra day thanks to the leap year, gaming revenues statewide fell almost 4 percent in February, the state reported.

On the Strip, casino revenues were down 3 percent from a year ago because of a lower hold percentage in baccarat and other table games. The locals casino market also experienced a revenue drop.

THURSDAY

Harrah's checks remodeling work

Harrah's Entertainment looked within its ledgers for evidence of remodeling projects that have taken place at its local hotels without the pulling permits and passing inspections and found 34 projects at eight hotels in Clark County since 2000.

The gaming company gave a copy of its internal audit to officials in the Clark County Development Services Department in March.

The audit compared construction permits pulled in the past eight years with capital expenditures for remodeling during the same period, according to a letter written by Greg Franklin, assistant director of Development Services.

FRIDAY

Most foreclosures

in newer areas

Most foreclosed homes in the Las Vegas Valley are concentrated in newer subdivisions and on average are less than 10 years old, a local housing market analyst shows.

The average age of homes in the top 10 foreclosure ZIP codes in Clark County ranged from 4.5 years in 89148 (537 foreclosures) to 25.1 years in 89108 (395 foreclosures), according to Las Vegas-based research firm SalesTraq.

The median was eight years.

"I think that was where the amateur investors and flippers were going, because they could get a loan there," SalesTraq President Larry Murphy said.

COMPILED BY MICHAEL SQUIRES

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