Metro Police vehicles are pictured near the 2800 block of South Las Vegas Boulevard, where officials say an officer was shot during a Black Lives Matter protest on June 1, 2020.
Published Tuesday, June 2, 2020 | 10:51 a.m.
Updated Tuesday, June 2, 2020 | 1:01 p.m.
Las Vegas-area leaders spoke out today about shootings late Monday during protests for racial justice that left a Metro Police officer critically injured and on life support.
In a tweet today, Las Vegas City Councilman Stavros Anthony asked people to pray for the wounded officer.
“This has to stop today. Violent thugs do not control our community. Implement a curfew. Call out the National Guard, police need help. Arrest all violent rioters immediately. No bail. Law and order,” Anthony said.
The shootings were an escalation in violence as people protested the death last month of George Floyd, who died in Minneapolis after an officer held his knee on Floyd’s neck during an arrest.
The Metro officer was shot on the Strip near Circus Circus as police were attempting to break up the crowd and make arrests, police said. A suspect was taken into custody, police said.
In a separate incident, Metro and federal officers guarding the Foley Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in downtown Las Vegas shot and killed a man after he reached for a gun, police said.
In a statement issued today, Gov. Steve Sisolak said everyone must work toward the goal of "creating a state where justice and peace exist in partnership, not as a binary choice."
Sisolak said he was praying for the officer and communities statewide that are experiencing grief and pain. "Violence has no place in our communities and we must all work toward peaceful solutions together. As your governor, I am committed to listening, heeding calls to action, and healing," he said.
State Attorney General Aaron Ford said he was heartbroken to hear about the shootings. "My family is praying for the families of those who were killed and for the recovery of those injured," he said.
Asking for prayers for the injured officer, Henderson Police Chief Thedrick Andres said that "these acts of senseless violence must stop in our community."
"Violence and criminal activity of any kind cannot be tolerated and only serves to widen the divide," Andres said. "We are in this together, and we will only prevail together."
Former Clark County Assistant Sheriff and state Assemblyman Tom Roberts, a Republican, called for a special legislative session to discuss police reform.
"Our police officers are not afraid of it," he said in a Twitter post. "How many lives do we need to lose before we take some action instead of talk. We need to protect our cops and citizens."
U.S. Sen Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., said she was monitoring the situation. “We don’t have all of the details yet, but one thing is clear: this violence is unacceptable,” she said via Twitter.
U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., said she reached out to Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo and was monitoring the shootings. "My heart breaks for our community and the officer’s family during these times of great despair, and I remain steadfast that we must condemn violence in all its forms," she said.
Cortez Masto and Rosen joined other lawmakers today in calling for an investigation into "the patterns and practices of racially discriminatory and violent policing in the Minneapolis Police Department," according to a joint statement.
U.S. Rep. Dina Titus on Twitter said, “I am heartbroken by the news of an LVMPD officer in critical condition and a separate police-involved shooting. We must listen to the pleas made by George Floyd’s family and demonstrate for justice peacefully.”
Clark County Commissioner Lawrence Weekly said he supports people’s rights to take to the streets to discuss “problems plaguing us for decades.”
"When it crosses to destroying property and innocent people, it crosses the line," he said.
Commissioner Justin Jones said via Twitter that his thoughts and prayers were with the family of the officer. "Gun violence is not the answer," he said.
