Suspect shot, killed by Metro officer

A Metro Police patrol officer shot and killed a man Monday night after the suspect made a move toward his waistband, police said.

No gun was found on the man, who was hit by several shots fired by the officer during the 11:30 p.m. incident on the sidewalk of Rainbow Boulevard south of Tropicana Avenue, police said.

Beside the man's body, police found a black cylinder containing what was believed to be a chemical commonly used to make methamphetamine.

"He may have been reaching for the drug paraphernalia to try and get rid of it," Deputy Chief Kyle Edwards said.

Edwards said that the number of shots fired by the officer was not immediately known. The name of the officer, a 2- to 3-year veteran of the force, will not be released for 48 hours in accordance with department policy.

The officer has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of a coroner's inquest in about two weeks.

Police do not know who the dead man is. He carried no identification. Edwards estimates that the man ranged in age from the late 20s to the early 30s.

A preliminary autopsy was to be conducted today to determine the official cause of death and how many bullets hit him.

Edwards said the patrol officer, riding alone in a marked police vehicle, saw the suspect running east across Rainbow near a drainage canal and stopped him.

The man was facing the officer, whose pistol was holstered, Edwards said, noting that the officer was asking the man to come toward him slowly.

Investigators said the man acted nervous and reached for a dark object in the front of his waistband. The officer then pulled his weapon and fired several times, police said.

The man was transported to the University Medical Center where he died a short time later.

Monday's fatal shooting was the third this year involving area police. A Henderson officer shot and killed a man in February, and Metro officers also killed a man involved in a domestic dispute during the same month.

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