Witnesses testify in coroner's inquest

The first of 13 scheduled witnesses began testifying today in a packed courtroom at the coroner's inquest into the fatal shooting of an unarmed, basketball-toting man by a Metro Police officer.

The officer, 27-year-old Bruce Gentner, wasn't scheduled to testify until late today.

The first witness was William Collins, who had just gotten off a CAT bus to go to work when the shooting happened.

Collins told the coroner's jury he had seen 32-year-old John Perrin walking down Rainbow Boulevard, tossing a basketball from hand to hand when Gentner's car, with its lights on, pulled up.

The next thing he recalled was hearing two shots and the officer then yell, "Get down."

That was followed by two more shots and similar commands before another flurry of shots were fired.

Deputy District Attorney Dan Bowman asked Collins if he heard Gentner say anything before the first shots, but the witness said he had not.

Collins said he didn't see the shots being fired because he fell to the ground for his own safety after he heard a bullet ricochet.

Outside the Clark County Courthouse before the hearing, a few of the dead man's family and friends demonstrated. A couple carried signs inquiring, "Coroner's Inquest -- Justice or circus???"

Another man wore a sandwich board. On one side it announced, "In memory of John Perrin, murdered by Metro Police. R.I.P."

The other side asked, "Will you be murdered next?"

Whether the coroner's jury determines the April 12 slaying of Perrin was justifiable, excusable or was criminally negligent likely will determine whether the Clark County District Attorney's Office files criminal charges.

If history is an example, the odds are with Gentner.

Since 1976, only one inquest has resulted in a verdict that has not cleared the officers of wrongdoing and in that instance the conclusion of criminality was rejected by a Clark County grand jury that refused to issue an indictment.

A jury of seven citizens and one alternate will make its decision after the evidence and testimony is presented into the actions of the four-year Metro veteran who fired 14 bullets at Perrin, hitting him six times.

Bowman presented the evidence and questioned witnesses, although questions also could be asked by jurors and the hearing officer presiding over the inquest, veteran attorney James Ordowski.

Spectators and members of Perrin's family could submit questions in writing for witnesses, but such questions are asked only at the discretion of Ordowski.

Cable television station Las Vegas One, cable channels one and 30, will be broadcasting the entire inquest live. This is the first inquest to have such coverage.

Gentner is on administrative leave with pay pending the outcome of the inquest.

Clark County Coroner Ron Flud has declined to comment specifically on the findings that three bullets hit Perrin in the back.

Flud said that hypothetically an initial gunshot could spin a person in such a way that additional rounds fired could strike him in the back and elsewhere.

Flud also would not comment on the number of rounds fired from Gentner's 9-mm pistol. Such handguns can hold as many as 16 rounds, indicating that Gentner emptied or nearly emptied his weapon while firing at Perrin.

Investigators said the incident occurred after Perrin was stopped about 11:30 p.m. while running east across Rainbow Boulevard near a drainage canal south of Tropicana Avenue. Police said he was acting suspiciously.

Perrin, according to police, reached for an object in his waistband before Gentner shot him.

No weapon was found, although a small, dark, glass jar with a metallic lid containing a substance believed to be used to manufacture methamphetamine was recovered near Perrin's body, as was a plastic-wrapped bundle that could have contained a drug, police said.

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