A smear of blood remained on the road where the body of a man was found early Saturday, a reminder of the blast that woke neighbors around 3 a.m.
Police identified the victim as Marcus M. Watts, 18.
He was found with a gunshot wound where 28th and Kansas Avenues meet in a T in front of Miller Park. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police responded at 3:10 a.m. to a report of shots fired.
Neighbors said they heard a very loud noise that sounded like a shotgun or a car accident.
“Like a big bomb,” said Maria Mullan, 42.
Mullan said she went back to sleep because she was very tired.
“Usually when we hear shooting or fights, we look out the windows,” she said.
She said her security camera captured at least some of what happened, and she turned the footage over to police.
Mullan said it showed Watts’ blue car parked on 28th Avenue facing south. Two people were talking outside the car, and then a light-colored Blazer pulled up and stopped.
She said there were new tire tracks running south across a section of Miller Park leading to the place where Watts was found.
A friend said Watts had attended a party earlier in the morning at 16th and Spencer Streets. A 16-year-old boy was shot at that location about 1 a.m. and suffered life-threatening injuries.
Officer Michael Pecha said police were investigating whether that shooting and the Watts slaying were connected.
After leaving the party, Watts called an uncle when his car ran out of gas. The uncle heard gunshots in the background before the call ended, said Watts’ friend, who asked not to be identified.
Watts was the father of three small children.
Court records indicate that in 2005, he was in the temporary custody of the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services and ordered to complete an alcohol and drug treatment program.
In 2008, he was convicted of third-degree assault and reckless driving, both misdemeanors. He was then placed on electronic monitoring for 90 days in his parental home.
Pecha, a police spokesman, asked that anyone with information on Watts’ killing call the Homicide Unit at 444-5656, Crime Stoppers at 444-STOP (7867), by texting “OPD” and your tip to CRIMES (274637) or online at www.omahacrimestoppers.net.
World-Herald staff writer Ross Boettcher contributed to this report.
Contact the writer:
444-1022, katie.fretland@owh.com
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