Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Police shoot, kill man who took bystander hostage after learning of eviction

Officer-involved shooting

Conor Shine

An officer-involved shooting took place Friday in the area of Cambridge Street and Twain Avenue.

Updated Friday, Nov. 2, 2012 | 11:50 a.m.

Officer-involved shooting

A man who was being evicted from his Las Vegas apartment Friday morning is dead, shot by police after a series of events that included him grabbing a bystander as a hostage and holding knives to the woman’s throat, authorities reported.

Metro Police Deputy Chief Kathleen O’Connor said the incident began about 7:30 a.m. at the Siegel Suites, 3825 Cambridge St. The manager of the complex, who was attempting to evict the man, called police after the tenant threatened to take hostages if the manager went through with the eviction.

O’Connor relayed this account of what then happened:

When a Metro Police unit already in the area for a community policing event arrived within moments, the tenant took off down Cambridge with the two officers in pursuit. About a half block from the Siegel Suites, the tenant came upon an elderly bystander, grabbed her and held two knives to her throat.

The two responding officers tried to engage the tenant, including giving him commands to drop his weapons and let the woman go free. The commands fell on deaf ears.

Feeling the woman’s life was in danger, officers shot the tenant.

He was transported to Sunrise Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The woman who was held at knifepoint was shaken but not injured.

Friday morning’s incident was Metro’s second officer-involved shooting this week and the fourth this year that resulted in a death. There have been eight officer-involved shootings in Metro’s jurisdiction this year, down from 17 in 2011, 12 of which were fatal.

On Monday afternoon, Metro Police fired on a man behind the Ross Dress for Less store at 2420 E. Desert Inn Road.

The officers discovered Ronald James Morrison, 52, in the back alley. They were pursuing Morrison, who was suspected of shooting a homeless man in the hand in front of the store.

Police shot and killed Morrison after he pulled a gun from his waistband, police said.

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