Man Shot Dead in Las Vegas 24 Hour Fitness Parking Lot

Damian Rolling · Jan 1, 2016

I am posting this since many vandwellers have memberships at 24 Hour Fitness and some spend the night in their parking lot. I am not implying that people should avoid 24 Hour Fitness; I am just sharing this for general security awareness.

A motive for the shooting has yet to be determined. I think it is interesting that the victim was apparently in his parked car for three hours (10 PM to 1 AM) before being shot.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/las-vegas/coroners-office-ids-man-killed-outside-vegas-gym

Damian

WriterMs · Jan 1, 2016

It says he was still in the front seat of his car and had never gone inside the gym. Seems to me that he may have been waiting for... a rendezvous? drug deal?

The assailants' car pulled right up to his window.

And, afterall, it is Vegas.

johnny b · Jan 2, 2016

Just looked at the article and here are the two latest 'comments':

Matthew Burdman • 15 hours ago

Please don't speculate on the nature of what happened here. This was a good man who died in cold blood. I had the pleasure of briefly knowing this kind soul and know why he was there that evening and it was simply to use his membership at the gym for a warm shower and to use what he presumed to be a safe parking lot to gain some rest in his rental car before attending an upcoming electronics trade show in town the next few days. Neil was a wonderful person whose life was a testament to how kind and genuine someone can truly be. He was unique in many ways and I am certainly better off for having known him. RIP my friend.

krusty007 • 11 hours ago

Neil was my friend. He wasn't a drug dealer. He was going to Vegas for CES and preferred sleeping in a rental car to getting hotel rooms. I always teased him about it. He parked by 24 Hour Fitness because he can park there all night and use the facilities. And he assumed it would be safe with people coming and going all night.p

mockturtle · Jan 2, 2016

Las Vegas, NV, is not the safest place to try to stealth camp. I know I wouldn't overnight in any parking lot there.

WriterMs · Jan 2, 2016

johnny b said:
Just looked at the article and here are the two latest 'comments':

Matthew Burdman • 15 hours ago

Please don't speculate on the nature of what happened here. This was a good man who died in cold blood. I had the pleasure of briefly knowing this kind soul and know why he was there that evening and it was simply to use his membership at the gym for a warm shower and to use what he presumed to be a safe parking lot to gain some rest in his rental car before attending an upcoming electronics trade show in town the next few days. Neil was a wonderful person whose life was a testament to how kind and genuine someone can truly be. He was unique in many ways and I am certainly better off for having known him. RIP my friend.

krusty007 • 11 hours ago

Neil was my friend. He wasn't a drug dealer. He was going to Vegas for CES and preferred sleeping in a rental car to getting hotel rooms. I always teased him about it. He parked by 24 Hour Fitness because he can park there all night and use the facilities. And he assumed it would be safe with people coming and going all night.p

I guess others had the same thoughts I did from the way the article was written. I realize it was not fair of me to even "guess" that there may have been nefarious reasons for him being there.

Information in the article did not make it seem like he was "living" in his car (like one of us where it would have been more obvious to police) so I was trying to say there may have been reasons beyond a guy simply parking for some rest.

USExplorer · Jan 2, 2016

The more people there are in an area, the more crazies there are in that area. Law of proportionality. I won't let them dissuade me from going where I want to go, though. A lit parking lot with security cameras and attendants on duty is not a likely place for a stickup, but crazies do not make rational choices.

Looks like he tried to flee from the robbers, and they shot him down for that. Car running and in gear, rolls off into the median after he dies.

SoulRaven · Jan 2, 2016

We'll never know what really happened. We tend to believe that people we know would never........but often we don't really know. I had a friend at work once, one Saturday morning I heard on the radio that he and another guy were apprehended, "attempted armed robbery". I was shocked and never had I been close to someone that done such a thing. He was a great guy to me and others at work but.......