Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Stabbing suspect charges Metro officer with knife, is shot dead

Metro Police opened fire on a stabbing suspect Wednesday night at an east valley apartment complex, marking the agency's fourth officer-involved shooting in five days.

The suspect, who'd been stabbing a woman in the 5300 block of East Tropicana Avenue near Boulder Highway, was fatally shot by a Metro sergeant when he charged at the officer with a knife, Capt. Kelly McMahill said in an online briefing.

Multiple witnesses called 911 regarding a man who had pinned a woman outside on the ground and was stabbing her, McMahill said. A lone sergeant responded about 9:15 p.m., McMahill said.

After several commands, the man stood up, got off the woman, but refused to drop the knife despite several warnings to do so, McMahill said.

Instead, he began walking toward the sergeant, then rushing toward her with the knife, still not complying, McMahill said. That's when the sergeant shot him twice.

He later died at the hospital, McMahill said. The stabbing victim also was hospitalized and had been stabilized, she added. The sergeant was uninjured.

The investigation remained in its initial stages late Wednesday.

The violent act was a continuation of a spree of officer-involved shootings that began on Saturday afternoon when a pair of SWAT officers shot and killed a rape suspect, Danzel Jamal Boyd, after a 16-hour standoff at a central valley apartment, police said. Throughout that incident, the 28-year-old fired toward officers who had surrounded the complex.

In negotiations with Metro, Boyd had expressed that "he wished to die" and had a myriad of opportunities to turn himself in before officers raided his apartment, and for several minutes after they breached the unit. The final confrontation, in which Boyd refused to drop the gun, was captured on an officer-worn camera.

Less than 10 hours later, a Metro officer opened fire on a suspect in a crime spree that began on U.S. 95 in Searchlight, who'd shot at police from the back window of a stolen pickup truck parked in a neighborhood near Jones Boulevard and Vegas Drive, police said. Immediately after firing three rounds toward officers, William Orellana turned his gun to his head and pulled the trigger.

That shooting also was captured on camera.

On Monday afternoon, a Metro officer fatally shot a knife-wielding man described by police as acting "agitated" and who'd injured one of the officers responding to an extended-stay hotel in the 2200 block of Bonanza Road. Multiple attempts to subdue him with a stun gun proved ineffective and the officer pulled the trigger when the suspect rushed at an officer with the knife, police said.

A detailed briefing on Monday's shooting is expected Thursday. Within 72 hours, a member of Metro's leadership will stand in front of a podium to discuss the latest shooting.