What The Hell Is Going On In The Las Vegas Valley?

Early thins morning our family awoke to some strange popping sounds along with a loud blast.  It turned out to be gunshots, with the Henderson cops shooting it out with some thug with a gun about 2 blocks from where i live.
From the LVRJ: A Henderson police officer was hospitalized Wednesday morning after he was shot or struck by shrapnel during a fatal shooting.
Police spokeswoman Kathleen Richards said the officer was in good condition. The officer was struck during a shootout with a man near Horizon Ridge Parkway and Gibson Road about 4:30 a.m. It’s unclear if the officer was wounded by a bullet or struck by shrapnel, she said.
Officers initially responded to reports of shots fired in the area. When they arrived, they found the front door of 489 Flat Plains Ave. wide open and heard shots being fired inside, police said. SWAT was called and neighbors were told to stay in their homes.
According to police, a man came out of the house with a gun, then went back inside and began firing again. He came back out and fired at police.
Officers fired on the shooter who was pronounced dead at the scene, said police. The names of the officers who fired their weapons have not yet been released.  http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/crime-courts/henderson-police-officer-wounded-suspect-killed-morning-shooting
As of midnight, the Henderson cops still had the street shut down with numerous squad cars in front the of the house.
Where we live, is a nice quiet area but this is the 2nd SWAT incident within a year or so within a few blocks of our townhouse complex.  Our complex and the neighboring one has had our share of police alls, usually domestic calls.  And the houses in our area go from $200,000 to $500,000, so it is not supposed to be a crappy neighborhood.
When we moved here almost 9 years ago, Las Vegas has gone down hill and fast.  There is far more violence, drug use, a very crappy school system that has gone down hill in the past 8 years and the list can go on and on.
How sad it is.