Las Vegas Police Officer Fatally Shoots Man at a Hospital

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/25/us/las-vegas-hospital-shooting.html

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A Las Vegas police officer fatally shot a man who was in custody at a hospital early Monday morning after the man took a Taser that had been left in a room and pointed it at the officer, the police said.

The man had been arrested earlier on a felony warrant after calling 911, saying he was suicidal and threatening police officers. He was taken to the hospital because he was extremely intoxicated and could not pass the booking process, Capt. Kelly McMahill said at a news conference.

The man told the dispatcher in a call at 10:40 p.m. Sunday that he had a firearm and was ready to “blast it out” with officers when they arrived. Officers found him on the west side of Las Vegas, passed out on the ground. Captain McMahill did not say whether he was armed.

An officer accompanied the man to the University Medical Center, where it was determined that he would be in custody at the hospital longer than first thought. At that point a corrections officer was summoned to relieve the police officer.

The corrections officer brought a Taser as well as some other unidentified items in a bag. The officers stepped out of the room, leaving the suspect alone with the bag, Captain McMahill said. The suspect took the Taser, put it on the floor next to him and when a nurse and a hospital security guard entered the room, he picked it up and pointed it at the guard.

The police officer was standing just outside and re-entered the room. After the man pointed the Taser at the officer, the officer fired one round, killing the man.

Danita Cohen, a hospital spokeswoman, said the shooting occurred around 4 a.m. local time.

The police did not immediately respond to questions about the man’s identity, the warrant that led to his arrest or the status of the officers.

The Las Vegas police said it was the 17th shooting by an officer in 2017.

In June, a Las Vegas police officer was charged with manslaughter after the authorities said he used a stun gun and chokehold on a man he believed was trying to carjack a vehicle. Last week, the police announced they changed their policies to bar such chokeholds.

Las Vegas has been struggling with a crime wave and has seen homicides rise sharply over the last several years. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported in July that the city was on pace to match the 222 homicides reported in 2016, a record-setting year.