District attorney’s decision was not justice for all

By Peter McMurran, Henderson

Saturday, Feb. 21, 2015 | 2 a.m.

It was disturbing to learn that the Clark County District Attorney’s Office recently decided not to proceed with criminal charges against Victor Thompson, who shot two U.S. Air Force airmen, one mortally, while they mistakenly approached his residence last June.

The 9-mm shots were fired from behind a closed, locked front door while one of the airmen drunkenly banged on his door and purportedly argued with Mr. Thompson to retrieve his car keys. The second airman was shot when coming to the aid of his friend to tell him he was knocking on the wrong door. According to Mr. Thompson, at the point when the second airman approached, he felt “apparent danger” to his life, family and property.

Was the apparent danger so urgent and pressing to Mr. Thompson that in order to save his own life and his family, the killing of the airman was absolutely necessary? Or was the killing absolutely necessary to prevent him from receiving great bodily harm while crouching behind a locked door with his handgun at the ready?

The apparent danger: A drunk 22-year-old yelling for his keys and a friend trying to help him. The airmen reportedly had no weapons.

Had Mr. Thompson exhausted his options before he fired from a secure position at two unarmed drunk “perpetrators”? Was Mr. Thompson’s use of such force necessary, in a proportionately reasonable amount, to avoid this apparent danger?

Clark County Deputy District Attorney Robert Daskas has said such decisions must be made on a case-by-case, fact-specific basis.

Mr. Thompson is a captain in the Las Vegas Fire Department. Is that a fact that led to the denial of charges by the district attorney?