In the late afternoon of September 2, 2024, a tragic event unfolded in a northeast Las Vegas apartment that claimed the life of 15-year-old James Lobue Jr., a male who had been reported as a runaway from Bismarck, North Dakota. The incident occurred around 4:42 p.m. inside a condominium complex on Kepler Drive. Emergency services were dispatched to the scene where they discovered James suffering from a gunshot wound in an upstairs apartment.
He was rushed to University Medical Center, but tragically, he was pronounced dead. The Clark County Coroner's office later confirmed his cause of death as a gunshot wound to the right arm and torso, ruling it a homicide.
Initial investigations by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department were challenging due to a lack of immediate information. It was believed that James was in the apartment with several other juveniles when the shooting took place. A witness reported hearing a gunshot and then seeing James emerge from a room, injured. He had been staying with a friend at the apartment the night before the fatal incident. As detectives delved deeper into the case, a clearer picture of the events leading to the shooting began to emerge, pointing to a situation that had escalated tragically.
The investigation led to the arrest of 18-year-old Browdy Lee Shaffer on September 4, 2024. He was taken into custody and booked into the Clark County Detention Center on a charge of open murder with a deadly weapon. According to police reports, the altercation that led to the shooting allegedly began as "play-fighting" among the teenagers. Shaffer had reportedly arrived at the apartment with a gun. It was revealed that prior to the shooting, Shaffer had been showing off the firearm during a video call. Following the gunshot, Shaffer initially tried to help James but then fled the apartment with his brother before authorities arrived.
