Random Violence Seems To Be Prevalent All Over Las Vegas

60-year-old John McCoy was shot and killed in his car near the intersection of Lone Mountain and Decatur. The two suspected gang members accused of the crime appeared in court this morning. Sheriff Bill Young says gang problems are a constant plague in our valley. News 3's Lisa Hidalgo reports on why gang members are impacting all neighborhoods in the valley.

Gangs and gang violence is not just a neighborhood issue anymore. It crosses geographic and economic boundaries. After this latest incident it, the question is, what's to stop it from happening in your neighborhood to someone you love?

"It would be misleading to think that because you live in a certain part of Las Vegas, you're safe." Like random acts of kindness, there's random acts of violence. "We never see gangs over in this area." But on Monday night, they did, when two local gang members allegedly shot and killed 60-year-old John McCoy near his home at Decatur and Lone Mountain.

"These gangs have cars and they can go anywhere they want around town and commit whatever kind of violence they want to commit." Jerry Simon with the Gang Task Force says he keeps a map of where gang activity has traditionally occurred. "There's a lot of activity toward the center of town. It's everywhere."

He says those of you in Summerlin aren't any safer than those of you in Green Valley or North Las Vegas. "We have a pretty good idea as to where they live, but the question comes, do they perpetrate crime where they live?"

The answer is no. They leave their neighborhoods and come into yours. The Gang Task Force says gang members understand that violence is a way of business. "This incident, they did not wake up at 19 and 20 and say, 'I'm going to be a gang banger,' or, 'I'm going to do a senseless act of violence.' This has been brewing since they were 16, 17, 18-years-old."

After a juvenile is released from the Gang Task Force, he or she is tracked. The Gang Task Force says it knows where these kids live, what they do and who they hang out with. The goal is to never see them in the system again.