Just days after a shoot out at an apartment complex left three teens in the hospital, community leaders are standing up again to call for an end to the violence.

Tuesday's shooting left many inside this apartment complex shaken and worried that the two groups shooting at each other will come back for revenge. That is why they hope Thursday's rally will make a difference.

With food, music, and fun they hope to catch students on their way home from school and once they have their attention they push their message — violence is no longer an acceptable way of life. Retaliation will not be tolerated and while the three teens shot here were not killed in this shooting, the senseless loss of many others will no longer be acceptable.

They are calling for change and want to see it happen.

“Now it is up to them. They got to get the attitude right. They got to decide that they are going to listen because people are putting in a lot of time and effort in,” said resident Edward Watson.

Two bullets went through Watson's apartment the night of the shooting in the very place he and his wife were sitting just minutes before.

They feel lucky to be a live and to be able to attend the rally. They say they know this neighborhood can be so much more and it's in the hands of the youth here to make a choice and turn from violence

The last Safe Village was actually held just a few hours before Tuesday's shooting. People here says that it feels like a slap in the face when they put so much effort into trying to change their community for the better and a small group refuses to listen.

Email your comments to Reporter Amanda Hernandez

One fugitive is dead and a Metro officer has been released from the hospital after being shot in the leg. The shooting happened when Metro officers attempted to arrest two fugitives on Wednesday night. The second suspected fugitive is in custody.

It was a long night for officers as many visited their injured comrade at UMC while others were at the scene of the shooting for several hours piecing together what happened.

Police say they were attempting to do a traffic stop on the suspects when the suspects crashed a car and emerged with weapons drawn at Eastern and St. Louis Avenues. Police say they were backing up U.S. Marshals in the arrest.

“Two suspects fled from the vehicle. They were seen with firearms. Officers engaged in a foot pursuit. A short distance from the wreck officers attempted to place one of the suspects in custody, at which time there was an exchange of gun fire,” said Metro Captain Randy Montandon.

One shot from the suspect would send an officer to the hospital with a bullet wound to his leg. Another shot, this time from officers, would end up taking the suspect's life.

Knowing the second suspect was also armed and considered just as dangerous, police stepped up their search.

“We basically had to bring a lot of manpower, because we had two very dangerous people that we were trying to apprehend,” said Montandon.

Police first learned about the suspects from the U.S. Marshals office who said the pair, wanted in California for parole violations from an earlier robbery, maybe in Las Vegas.

Police spotted their car about 6 p.m. Wednesday evening, but when they tried to pull them over, the suspects sped away, leading to a short pursuit and finally the crash.

About an hour after it all began, the search for the second suspect finally came to end peacefully and now officers are investigating what led to two people being shot.

Email your comments to Reporter Amanda Hernandez

Police are still searching for the gunmen who shot three people Tuesday evening. It happened at the Villa Capri apartments near Owens and J Street. All three victims were released from the hospital Tuesday night.

The shooting happened just a few hours after a peace rally held by the Safe Village Initiative.

Eyewitness News talked to several members of the community who are still pretty shaken up from the shooting. Though Metro has not confirmed it, these residents are convinced it was gang related and are now fearful of retaliation. They say peace rallies to stop this kind of violence just aren't working.

When night falls in the West Las Vegas neighborhood, residents say they live in fear. It's when gang members rule the streets. Residents are convinced this shooting was gangs at work — a problem that's not going away anytime soon.

Henry Thorns is a product of this community. “Until you help the people that help the kids, who the kids trust can help them — it's ain't gonna.”

He's dedicated his life to helping kids stay away from gangs by giving them other outlets like sports. He says it works — only because the kids know and trust him — a trust they don't feel at Safe Village peace rallies, where Metro's presence is strong. Thorns calls these rallies fronts.

“Come on, you use us to get grant money, funding, but it don't come back to our community,” he said. “It goes outside the community. But if someone like me speak up on it, it's like I don't know what I'm talking about.”

David Osman with Safe Village Initiative says these rallies are only a small piece of what they do. “This is not a front. This is a reality.”

They plan to use members of this very community to hopefully stop what retaliation may be brewing. “When you have an issue of violence that has been plaguing our community for many years, you're not going to have a silver bullet that takes care of it,” said Osman.

Osman believes their steps have been working and uses Metro's decreasing gang violence stats to back him up. But Tuesday night, only a couple of hours after their rally, three people were shot.

The Safe Village Initiative says they plan to ask residents in this complex what could have prevented the shooting. They're hoping to provide kids other activities that will hopefully keep them away from gangs.

Long before the Cirque de Soleil shows, or magicians like Lance Burton were headliners, Latino entertainers were big names on the Strip. Now, a new exhibit set to open Thursday will feature their talent and what they brought to Las Vegas.

The pictures hanging on the walls say a lot about Latino entertainers who made their mark in Las Vegas. Now the Hispanic Museum of Nevada wants all of Las Vegas to know who they are, and what they brought to the entertainment capital of the world.

If you could hear what was happening in the pictures, the sound of Latin music would resonate.

Lynette Sawyer is the executive director of the Hispanic Museum of Nevada and a proud Latina. “This exhibit is a time line from the past, to the present, and so many more that will be coming, I'm sure,” she said. 

She is thrilled to be partnered with the Las Vegas News Bureau to bring this exhibit to the valley. “We have to remember all of these performers were part of the fabric of Las Vegas, starting many years ago in the 40's, 50's, and 60's.”

Pictures of greats likes Carlos Santana, Charro, Gloria Estafan and Rita Moreno all on stage here in Las Vegas make the exhibit. “We had Rita Moreno, the recipient of three awards, the Golden Globe, the Oscar, and the Tony. She's done it all,” said Sawyer.

Brian Paco Alvarez is the curator for exhibit, appropriately titled, “Viva Las Vegas.”

“We know that Elvis Presley coined the term, and he himself was highly influenced by Latin music,” said Alvarez.

Music and entertainers who helped make Las Vegas what it is today. “That's what this exhibit is about. Celebrating Las Vegas as the entertainment capital of the world and to educate the public about the enormous and key roles that the Latinos have in this community,” said Alvarez.

The exhibit opens Thursday, and will be at the lobby of the Embarq building at 330 South Valley View Boulevard through March 22. For more information, click here.

A chaotic scene erupted Tuesday night, just hours after a scheduled rally to combat violence in west Las Vegas. Just down the street from the rally, shots were fired and three people were hit.

The rally was in response to a deadly shooting that happened on Friday. Tuesday's act of violence wasn't deadly but it landed three young people here in the hospital.

Metro swarmed the west Las Vegas neighborhood on the ground and by air, looking for whoever turned the Villa Capri Apartments into a virtual war zone.

“Some of the apartments were shot up in a gun battle. It appeared there may have been a rolling gun battle that occurred out in the open quad area,” said Metro Capt. Patrick Neville.

Terrified neighbors ran for cover.

“I was coming downstairs with my daughter. A bunch of boys was running past us shooting, so we ran back up the stairs,” said Sherina Carson.

They ran as bullets flew back and forth.

“It was loud — about six or seven shots,” adds Carson.

Before it was all over, three young men were shot. All three victims were rushed to UMC as police began to hunt for any suspects on the run. The entire complex became one huge crime scene.

“There's a lot of rounds, there's no doubt about that. But as far as where or how many, I can't tell you,” said Capt. Neville.

The good news is that all three victims have been treated and released from UMC. Metro is investigating whether this is gang related.

Email your comments to Reporter Aaron Drawhorn