Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Wife questioned after man shot dead in domestic dispute

0719FatalDomestic01

Steve Marcus

Metro Police detectives investigate a fatal shooting in the 4100 block of Oakhill Avenue, near U.S. 95 and Harmon Avenue Thursday, July 19, 2018.

Updated Thursday, July 19, 2018 | 8:25 p.m.

Woman Shoots and Kills Husband

Metro Police Lt. Ray Spencer responds to questions following a fatal shooting in the 4100 block of Oakhill Avenue, near U.S. 95 and Harmon Avenue Thursday, July 19, 2018. Launch slideshow »

Following the fatal pull of a trigger in a southeast valley backyard shed, the woman grabbed a phone and in a disconcerted tone told a 911 operator that she’d just wounded her husband, who’d threatened her with a gun, according to Metro Police.

“From listening to the phone call, she was obviously upset,” said Lt. Ray Spencer, standing about 100 yards from the homicide scene in the 4100 block of Oakhill Avenue, not far from U.S. 95 and Harmon Avenue.

Police responded to the residence shortly after 2 p.m. and found a gravely wounded man, Spencer said. His wife was detained by officers, while the man was placed in an ambulance and rushed to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, where he died.

Previously, the woman had filed a restraining order against the man, but further information on the status of the document — whether it was active or even served — was not available Thursday evening, Spencer said. Metro had been to the house at least once before the fatal confrontation, he added.

As of early Thursday evening, detectives were “treating it as a possible self-defense shooting,” Spencer said, reiterating that the death investigation was in its early stages.

The woman, who is in her early 30s, told police that her husband, who’s about 40, called her over to the shed tucked in the back of her home’s yard, near an empty pool, Spencer said. It wasn’t immediately clear what transpired next, but the woman said that her husband had pulled out a handgun and was threatening her with it.

Somehow, the woman got ahold of a handgun and pulled the trigger, Spencer said, noting that investigators believe there were two guns involved. Anytime a person is threatened with a gun, that person has a “right to defend themselves,” Spencer added.

A teenage daughter of the woman was inside the house at the time of the shooting. She was unharmed and apparently didn’t witness the shooting, Spencer said.

“It’s dangerous. We have kids in the house, and this is disturbing,” said resident Sarahi Bueno, standing a couple of feet from where Spencer briefed reporters.

Bueno and her family have lived in the neighborhood, where she said they hadn’t encountered such a traumatic incident before, for about five years.

The shooting worries her, she said. She’s “preocupada.”