Metro kills robbery suspect at the Rio

Published Sunday, Dec. 7, 2014 | 10:42 a.m.

Updated Sunday, Dec. 7, 2014 | 3:06 p.m.

Metro Police shot an armed man at the Rio this morning suspected of carrying out several casino robberies.

In a video posted on Metro's YouTube channel at about 10:48 a.m., Capt. Matt McCarthy of the Office of Internal Oversight said that over the past several months, there have been a number of casino robberies in the Las Vegas Valley that detectives have been investigating. Detectives from the Repeat Offenders Program have been following a subject believed to be the suspect in the robberies, during which a heavily armed white male would confront a clerk, produce a firearm and comment that he had explosives before demanding money.

Detectives had been conducting surveillance on the suspect over the past several days and learned Sunday morning that he was at the Rio, McCarthy said.

Officers confronted the suspect at the Rio, 3700 W. Flamingo Road, and attempted to take him into custody. When a struggle ensued and the suspect didn't comply with officers' commands, officers immobilized him with a Taser, according to a Metro news release. The Taser was ineffective and the suspect then reached toward his waist, attempting to pull out a handgun. One of the detectives shot the suspect, who was later pronounced dead on scene by medical personnel.

A firearm was recovered from around the suspect's waist, where he had put his hands, McCarthy said.

"As you know, these investigations are complex," McCarthy said. "We are conducting a thorough investigation. We don't have all the details about all the robberies, but we expect that information to come out after the 72-hour briefing with the sheriff."

The identity of the suspect will be released by the Clark County Coroner's Office at a later date.

This is the 15th officer-involved shooting of 2014. The identity of the officer involved will be released after 48 hours, per Metro's policy.