Officer involved in shooting near Nellis identified

By Mary Manning

Monday, Aug. 17, 2009 | 11:54 a.m.

A Metro Police officer involved in the shooting of a man wielding a knife near Nellis Air Force Base late Friday was identified Monday as Sgt. John Pelletier, a police statement said.

After receiving reports of a man with a gun, two uniformed officers responded at about 8 p.m. Friday to a trailer park at 3825 N. Nellis Blvd. The officers found a man who fit the description and confronted him, police said.

When officers asked him to show them his hands, the man instead reached under his shirt and pulled out a large bowie knife, said Capt. Randy Montandon. The man was identified Saturday as 36-year-old Michael Gibbs.

Officers thought the knife was a gun and fired several shots. Gibbs was taken to University Medical Center for treatment, police said. He was booked in absentia in connection with assault with a deadly weapon and felony resisting arrest.

Pelletier has been with Metro Police since July 1999 and is currently assigned to the patrol division of the North East Area Command. Officers weren't injured in the incident, police said.