In the warm evening of Monday, April 18, 2016, the life of 34-year-old Thomas Blas of North Las Vegas came to a tragic and violent end. Responding to calls of a man screaming for help around 9 p.m., Las Vegas Metropolitan Police officers arrived at the Solis apartment complex, located at 3223 E. Flamingo Road. There, they discovered Blas suffering from a gunshot wound. He was rushed to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, but his injury proved fatal, and he was pronounced dead.
The Clark County coroner's office later officially ruled his death a homicide.
Detectives with Metro's homicide section began an investigation into the shooting. According to police, several witnesses reported seeing a group of four to five men fleeing the area immediately after the gunshots were heard. Investigators believed that the motive behind the fatal encounter may have been a drug deal that had gone wrong.
In the days following the shooting, no arrests were made in connection with the murder of Thomas Blas. Law enforcement officials did not release any further details or descriptions of the potential suspects seen running from the apartment complex. His death marked the 50th homicide investigated by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department that year. The investigation into the incident remains ongoing.
