Cop put on leave after shooting

A North Las Vegas man shot and killed by police had apparently pulled a gun on another man during a dispute minutes earlier, authorities said.

It was a 911 call reporting a man with a gun that drew police to the parking lot of an apartment complex at 2321 Belmont St., near Pecos Road and Lake Mead Boulevard, where the fatal shooting happened about 2:45 a.m. Tuesday.

The 34-year-old suspected gunman died almost instantly from a single bullet fired by a police officer. His name has been withheld until relatives are notified.

The officer's name was also withheld. North Las Vegas Police said that he has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation.

Police arriving at the complex were heading toward the apartment the 911 call had directed them to when they noticed a man standing by the open door of a a minivan, said Lt. Mike Blackwell, department spokesman.

The man suddenly turned toward the officers, the motion revealing what appeared to be a gun in the man's waistband, Blackwell said.

The officers identified themselves as police and ordered the man to drop his weapon, Blackwell said. Instead, Blackwell said, the man reached for the gun and then pointed it at the officers, Blackwell said.

An officer fired two shots, the first hitting the van. The second round knocked the victim to the ground, the bullet striking his torso, Blackwell said.

What appeared to be the dying man's last effort to reach for his gun saw police take the semiautomatic weapon into custody, police said. Police were unable to confirm Tuesday whether the gun was loaded.

Officers next went to the apartment referenced in the 911 call and found the alleged gunman's two children, ages 7 and 3, unharmed. Also inside was a cousin of the children's mother, Blackwell said.

An investigation determined that the deceased had lived at the apartment about six months, and with the children and their mother about a year. Blackwell said the children's father had been arguing with a male friend of the mother, who police identified as the man who called 911 claiming someone had pointed a gun at him.

"The man we believe to be the mother's boyfriend or ex-boyfriend had left the area to call police and never came back," Blackwell said. "The (victim) had been out by the van talking to the mother (of his children) when police arrived."

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