A Metro crime scene analyst takes photos at the scene of an officer-involved shooting by Charleston Boulevard and Highway 95 Monday, March 3, 2014.
Tuesday, March 4, 2014 | 4:28 p.m.
Julio Estrada-Lopez stood Monday afternoon at Charleston Boulevard and pointed his gun at the sky.
Moments earlier, police say, Estrada-Lopez had attempted to rob two people in a nearby neighborhood and threatened a third person with his gun. Now, with police charging toward him at Charleston and U.S. Highway 95, he stopped running.
Officers ordered Estrada-Lopez to drop the gun and lay on the ground. Instead, police reported, Estrada-Lopez mumbled something under his breath, made the sign of the cross on his chest, and lowered his gun in the direction of the officers.
Before he could shoot, an officer fired four shots at Estrada-Lopez, striking him in the torso.
These were the details outlined in a Metro Police report into an officer-involved shooting on Monday. Estrada-Lopez, 41, was transported to University Medical Center in critical condition. He was booked in absentia at the Clark County Detention Center.
Estrada-Lopez was arrested on four counts of assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer, two counts each of assault with a deadly weapon, two counts of auto burglary while in a possession of a gun, and one count each of resisting arrest with a gun and attempted grand larceny of an auto.
The report indicates the following:
Police responded about 3:30 p.m. to reports of an in-progress vehicle burglary in on Suzy Court. A man was walking along the side of his home with his grandson when he noticed Estrada-Lopez rummaging through his car searching for a spare key.
The man yelled at Estrada-Lopez to stop. Estrada-Lopez stepped out of the car and then pointed his gun at the man, demanding his keys. The man told him they were inside the house and then walked to the back gate with his grandson.
Once they reached the gate, Estrada-Lopez ran across the street and threatened a woman to hand over her keys. She refused and Estrada-Lopez ran to try stealing two other cars, but the car doors were locked.
It was then that police arrived and ordered Estrada-Lopez to stop. The man ignored them and ran. Police called in a helicopter to track him.
As Estrada-Lopez fled, he pointed a gun at a third person and told her to run away. He continued running through a backyard and scaled a wall to reach the on-ramp to U.S. 95.
Once there he pointed the gun at the officer. It was then that another officer shot Estrada-Lopez.
Metro has not released the name of the officer who shot Estrada-Lopez.
The incident marked the second officer-involved shooting of 2014, Metro said.
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