Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2016 | 7 p.m.
Abel Correa
The fatal shooting of a man who charged at a Metro Police officer while holding a screwdriver and a wrench about a year ago is legally justified, the Clark County District Attorney's Office said Tuesday.
A toxicology report determined that Abel Correa, 24, had methamphetamine, amphetamine and marijuana in his system. The amount of meth in his system "has been known to cause violent and irrational behavior," the DA's office said.
A month and a half before his death, Correa was "involuntarily" committed to receive psychiatric treatment, the report said.
About two weeks before the shooting, Correa's mother applied and was granted a protective order on the basis that Correa had threatened her and her younger son. "She claimed (Correa) wants to take (her) out. She felt that there is no peace at home, but fear."
"We cannot sleep out of fear that he might do something to us," the report quoted the mother. "We cannot control him; we are terrorized."
Officers were called Aug. 7, 2015, to Correa's mother's house in the 6900 block of Berkshire Place, near Rainbow Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue.
As the officers, Glen Taylor, 51, and Eli Prunchak, 42, were investigating, Correa sprung out of a closet where he was hiding, charging at Prunchak, police said. That's when the officers fired their weapons. Correa died at University Medical Center.
According to the report, Correa had a history of harassing his neighbors: slashing vehicle tires multiple times, accusing them of witchcraft and in the morning of the shooting, and the reason police were called, throwing a pickup truck hitch ball through their window.
The shooting was captured on Taylor's body camera.
"Mr. Correa’s mother sought a protective order against her son because she was, in her words, being ‘terrorized’ by him," District Attorney Steve Wolfson said in a release. "The investigation showed that Mr. Correa had a history of drug abuse and that he suffered from mental illness as well. Unfortunately, his actions left officers with no choice but to protect themselves and the citizens in the home."
A fact-finding review occurred June 16 and the DA's office has determined the officers "acted lawfully."
For the full report, visit here.
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