Police say suspect attempted to kidnap ex-girlfriend

Henderson police say a man shot to death by an officer Thursday afternoon was an ex-boyfriend of a girl he intended to kidnap and kill.

The girl escaped after being beaten. She called the police.

Police Chief Tommy C. Burns burns identified the dead man as J.C. Daniels, 21, of Henderson.

"We believe he intended to kill the girl," Burns said.

An officer responding to the domestic disturbance and possible kidnapping call at the Oasis Greens apartments, 2001 Ramrod Ave., was stabbed four times when he stumbled across the suspect at the bottom of the stairway leading to the girl's upstairs apartment.

Burns said a bullet resistant vest worn by the officer probably saved his live.

The vest deflected a stab to the chest.

The officer, whose identity is being withheld for the time being, received two cuts on the arm and one in the head from a pocket knife with a 4-inch, folding blade.

The officer backed away from the suspect and as he did so, he pulled out his weapon and shot the man several times, Burns said.

Burns said the officer received between 15 and 20 stitches. He was treated and released at University Medical Center.

Burns said Daniels was arrested on a domestic battery and coercion charge in January after an altercation with his girlfriend, who lives in the apartment complex where Thursday's shooting took place.

"He had been served with a temporary protective order on that issue on Jan. 22, 1999," Burns said.

Burns said Daniels went to the girl's apartment at about 2 p.m. Thursday, kicked in the door and kidnapped her.

While they were driving around in his car she faked being unconscious.

Burns said when Daniels stopped the car and got out, the girl took the car and drove back to her apartment.

A short time later, she saw Daniels being dropped off at the apartment by a friend, Burns said, so she fled in his car.

"She went to a friend's house in another part of Green Valley and called police," Burns said. "She said she thought the suspect might still be at her apartment."

Burns said Daniels was seen with a baseball bat and a machete with a 2-foot blade. The machete was found at the top of the stairs near the girl's apartment.

Police went to where she was calling from as well as to the apartment where she fled.

Burns said two officers searched the complex for Daniels at about 4:15 p.m.

The officer who went to the apartment complex saw Daniels when he first arrived but didn't realize the man was a suspect at that point.

Burns said when Daniels saw the police he went up a flight of stairs to the second-floor apartments and hid his machete and baseball bat.

"When our officer walked up (toward the girl's apartment) he saw the suspect, only he didn't know yet that he was the suspect," Burns said.

The suspect disappeared briefly and then came back down the flight of stairs, with both hands behind his back. At the bottom of the stairs, the Henderson policeman stopped him.

"Our officer asked for his ID," Burns said.

The suspect suddenly brought his hands out from behind his back and in one of the hands was the folding knife with the 4-inch blade.

Daniels slashed the officer several times, Burns said.

As the officer fell backwards he pulled his weapon and fired several times.

"Three witnesses within feet of the incident all described the same thing," Burns said.

The officer who was stabbed has been placed on paid administrative leave, which is normal procedure when an officer is involved in a shooting.

The last time an officer was involved in a fatal shooting in the valley was on Nov. 10, 1998, when a Metro officer shot and killed Frank Lemos to end his front-end loader rampage at the Apex Chemical Lime Corp.

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