Las Vegas Arts District Sees Shootings, City Officials Weigh New Curfew Proposal

Posted on: August 2, 2022, 01:47h. 

Last updated on: August 2, 2022, 05:15h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More
Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

A shooting happened in the Las Vegas Arts District Sunday morning. It occurred near South Main Street and East Imperial Avenue, reported KVVU, a local TV station. It comes as city officials weigh where to place a planned, tougher curfew in Downtown Las Vegas.

Nevada Brew Works
Nevada Brew Works, pictured above. The proprietor of the Las Vegas Arts District brewery is opposed to including the district under a proposed curfew. (Image: Eater Las Vegas)

Details on the recent gun violence in the popular Arts District were not immediately available. But shootings in and around the Arts District neighborhood happened previously.

On Monday, a City Council committee forwarded the proposed, more-restrictive curfew to the entire City Council for a review. FSE and LVMPD officials will present information to council members on the proposal.

The curfew would be in effect in an area with boundaries of Ogden Avenue, 8th Street, Carson Avenue, and Main Street. The Fremont Street Experience (FSE) is included within that area.

City Council Considers Tougher Curfew

Currently, the city of Las Vegas, which includes the FSE, does not allow those under 18 to be unaccompanied between 10 pm and 5 am on the following day between Sunday and Thursday. On Fridays and Saturdays, the existing curfew runs between midnight and 5 am on the following day.

The Las Vegas City Council is now weighing a proposed curfew for those under 21 years of age in the Fremont Street area of Downtown Las Vegas. A current proposal would ban anyone under 21 between 9 pm and 5 am seven days a week, according to KVVU.

But the Arts District likely would not fall under the curfew restrictions.

Recent Vegas Crime

The recent curfew proposal came about after several shootings in the area, including at the FSE, a popular pedestrian mall.

On June 19, a 16-year-old boy, Ruben Robles, allegedly fatally shot a man at the FSE. An innocent bystander also was wounded by gunfire. Fabian Carmona, 21, was also charged with the violent struggle.

In May, a shooting occurred near First Friday, the monthly arts and cultural festival held in the Arts District, according to reports from local TV station KLAS. The violence happened near Coolidge Avenue. Three men got into a dispute. Matters escalated and one of the men shot another man involved in the argument, the report said.

In March 2019, a shooting was reported on South Las Vegas Boulevard, near Charleston Boulevard, said KSNV, another TV station. One man suffered a wound in his foot.

Due to recent violence, the FSE put into effect security upgrades. These include metal detectors at entrances, security guards checking bags for weapons and other restricted items, and a limited curfew on weekend evenings for those under 21 years of age, according to local media reports.

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) and FSE security also upped the number of officers in the area.

Curfew Not Needed in Arts District

One local business owner, Jason Taylor, proprietor of Nevada Brew Works, a brewery located in the Arts District, says the tougher curfew is not needed for that neighborhood, KVVU reported. It does not have the violence seen in and around Fremont Street.

I have never seen any type of fight,” Taylor revealed to KVVU. “We have never reported any type of altercation or anyone pulling out a weapon.”

Taylor says he worries about a curfew’s negative impact on business in the Arts District.

“We wouldn’t want a curfew down here starting at 9 o’clock,” Taylor said. “We still have families with their kids who are hanging out. We have a different base of customers than what you are going to get down on Fremont Street.”