■ Police arrested the mother of a 3-year-old boy who was shot and killed when a gun went off.
Police say new gun went off accidentally after mishandling
The mother of a 3-year-old boy who was shot and killed Wednesday evening at a northeast Las Vegas apartment complex has been arrested,
Las Vegas police announced Thursday.
Jasmin Vargas, 25, was arrested on suspicion of child abuse or neglect resulting in significant bodily or mental harm, Metropolitan Police Department Lt. Dave Valenta, with the department’s abuse and neglect detail, said during a press briefing Thursday morning.
Valenta said the boy was shot when Vargas’ new gun went off as she was “showing it off to some friends in an inappropriate manner.”
“During this she mishandled it, discharging the firearm, which did go off, striking her own 3-year-old son,” he said.
About 7:05 p.m. Wednesday, police were called to the Pacific Legends East apartment complex, near Arlington Street and Charleston Boulevard, after a woman reported a toddler had been shot, Valenta told reporters outside the scene.
The boy was taken to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, where he died.
Valenta said his department had responded to three other accidental gun deaths this year alone and emphasized the importance of getting gun training and keeping firearms locked away when they are not being used. Nothing is more tragic than a preventable death, he said.
“We go on too many of these each year,” Valenta said Wednesday. “People need to take much better care of their firearms.”
Samonte Lewis, 18, was arrested in July after he told police he and his brother were playing with a gun when it accidentally went off, killing 16-year-old Samarion Lewis.
In September, police were called to the 5500 block of Ness Ave. after a 15-year-old accidentally shot his relative’s boyfriend, 22-year-old Tuttle Alfonzo. After a review from the Clark County district attorney’s office, the boy was arrested. The next day, 14-year-old Zaishaun White