Metro identifies officer who fatally shot armed man near UNLV

By Kyle B. Hansen

Friday, April 22, 2011 | 9:24 a.m.

Metro Police today identified an officer who fatally shot an armed man Tuesday near UNLV as Officer Patrick Burke.

Burke, 45, has been with the department since January 2001 and is assigned to the Patrol Division in the South Central Area Command.

The shooting occurred shortly after 8 p.m. Tuesday after a car pursuit. Police said a vehicle wouldn’t stop until officers spun the car at Swenson Street and Flamingo Road.

When a man left the car, he fired shots toward officers, started to flee, then turned around and fired another shot, police said. Burke returned fire, striking the gunman several times, police said.

The gunman, identified by the Clark County coroner as 32-year-old David Gonzalez, was taken to Sunrise Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Neither of the officers was injured.

Gonzalez died of gunshot wounds to the arms and chest. His place of residence is unknown.

Burke was placed on paid administrative leave during an investigation, which is standard in cases of officer-involved shootings.