Warnings Filed, Tragedy Followed

A Las Vegas city maintenance worker begged his own human resources department for help months before a coworker allegedly gunned him down at a city work yard, and now taxpayers are asking why nobody stopped it.

Story Snapshot

Joey McLean, 41, wrote to Las Vegas city HR that he was “afraid for my life” months before he was shot dead.
Coworker Brysen Kim, 31, allegedly killed McLean on June 12 at a city maintenance yard near 7th Street and Stewart Avenue.
Records show McLean flagged Kim’s size, aggressive behavior, and access to a concealed weapon in a formal complaint.
A grand jury has indicted Kim, who has pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges.
City records also show the dispute ran both ways, with Kim filing his own harassment complaints against McLean.

A Written Warning Before a Shooting

Joey McLean worked maintenance for the city of Las Vegas. Months before he died, he put his fear in writing to human resources. He said he was “afraid for my life” and asked for a transfer away from coworker Brysen Kim. That warning sat in city files while McLean kept showing up to work at the same site as the man he feared.

McLean’s complaint did not stop at fear alone. He laid out specific reasons in a bulleted list, according to records obtained by local reporters. He said Kim outweighed him by 60 pounds, acted unpredictably and aggressively, and carried a concealed weapon on the job. Those are not vague worries. They are the kind of specific, documented red flags workplace-safety experts say should trigger action.

Months of Escalating Conflict Between the Two Workers

Police records released after the shooting describe a dispute that had been building for roughly six months before McLean died. Las Vegas police said the two men had an ongoing HR conflict that finally turned deadly at the maintenance yard. That timeline matters. Six months is plenty of time for a city government to act, yet McLean ended up shot in the head.

McLean took his fear to court filings too, describing a “hail of gunfire” that ended his life, according to reporting on the case. He had pleaded for help from his own employer’s HR department well before he was killed. City workers are entitled to expect that a government office receiving repeated safety complaints will do more than file paperwork.

A Two-Sided Feud Complicates the Picture

The record is not entirely one-sided, and fairness demands saying so. Kim also filed HR complaints against McLean, telling managers the harassment against him had become “toxic” and that he would not tolerate it on his own personal time. City documents describe a dump-truck incident that nearly hurt Kim, along with accusations flying both directions before the shooting.

Records further show McLean was temporarily pulled from the workplace at one point, with his badge deactivated, while managers weighed what to do about Kim’s own transfer request. That shows the city was not entirely passive. But it also shows a bureaucracy shuffling paperwork instead of decisively separating two men who both said they were scared, right up until one of them ended up dead.

Grand Jury Indictment and the Case Ahead

A grand jury has since indicted Kim on murder charges tied to McLean’s death. Kim has pleaded not guilty and faces additional charges connected to the shooting. The criminal case will now decide Kim’s guilt or innocence in a courtroom, where evidence about the feud, the threats, and the weapon will get a full hearing under oath.

Government workers deserve a workplace where a written plea saying “I am afraid for my life” gets more than a paper trail. This case is a warning to every city hall running HR like a box-checking exercise instead of a safety system. Taxpayers fund these departments to protect employees, not to log complaints while conflicts boil over into gunfire.

😨 'I'm Afraid For My Life' Las Vegas City Worker wrote to HR months before death😲

Internal records show Las Vegas city employee Joey McLean warned HR that he was "afraid for his life" months before he was fatally shot by coworker Brysen Kim, following an escalating feud.… pic.twitter.com/KgKOV78BGG

— American Crime Stories (@AmericanCrime01) July 27, 2026

Nevada’s courts will now sort out criminal responsibility for Kim. But the city of Las Vegas still owes its own workforce, and the public, real answers about why months of documented fear did not lead to a faster, firmer separation of two men who both said they felt threatened long before one of them was killed.