Youth may need transplant after shooting

While most Las Vegas kids enjoy a long holiday weekend, stuffed from turkey and mashed potatoes, Chris Harnum lies in a hospital bed, his fate uncertain.

Harnum, a 14-year-old freshman at Sunrise Mountain High School, was shot in the chest by a stray bullet from a Nov. 13 gunfight near his home. He was in critical condition after the shooting but since has been stabilized, the family has said.

Las Vegas police Sgt. Jon Scott, a Violent Crimes Section supervisor, said the incident happened in the 5800 block of E. Carey Avenue, near Toiyabe Street in the northeast valley.

Scott said Harnum, taking a shortcut to a friend's house on a Saturday afternoon, was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"The victim was not at the location of the shooting. He was quite a bit away from it in a drainage ditch," he said.

Scott said two groups of men were trading shots at least 400 feet from Harnum's location. Harnum was not the intended target, and the shooters might not have known the boy was hit, he said.

Harnum's aunt told a local television station that the boy is at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, where doctors will determine whether he needs a liver transplant.

A liver transplant could be devastating for Harnum, an active student who loved sports, especially football, she said.

Although Harnum's medical condition is now stable, he was not awake and might not understand what happened, she told the station.

Harnum's parents declined interview requests, citing emotional distress and a desire to focus all energy on their son.

Harnum was scheduled for another surgery on Wednesday, his father said. His condition was unavailable Friday.

Several search warrants have been served, and one man, Eduardo Lozano, 34, was arrested Tuesday on a charge of possession of an unregistered firearm.

The case has been tough for investigators because the suspects did not know Harnum and the boy was unable to speak.

Even if Harnum could give police his account of the incident, it's unlikely he would be able to provide information about the shooters, Scott said.

Scott said the incident was not gang-related, and it is not clear what prompted the shootout.

Determining who fired the shot that hit Harnum will be extremely difficult, he said, because the bullet passed through the teen's body and has not been found.

"It's one of those cases that are rarely solved," Scott said. "Proving something without evidence is challenging. There are ways of doing it, but it's not a usual case and takes a lot of work."

Still, police said more arrests and additional charges will be forthcoming.

Lt. George Castro, who oversees the Violent Crimes Section, said police have kept in close contact with Harnum's family and have made the case a high priority.

"We're very concerned for the child. A bullet that goes through-and-through in the chest is very serious," he said. "But sometimes being young and pretty resilient, the chances of coming back from something like that are pretty good.

"We're still looking into it, still interviewing people,'' Castro said. "There's a lot of legwork we've done already, and we will be doing more."

Contact reporter Mike Blasky at mblasky@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0283.