North Las Vegas police investigate an officer-involved shooting on Statz Street near East Lake Mead Boulevard in North Las Vegas Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2018.
Published Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2018 | 11:36 a.m.
Updated Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2018 | 4:18 p.m.
North Las Vegas police officers fatally shot a man this morning who drove a pickup truck toward them and disobeyed commands to stop, according to officials.
One of the officers injured their knee after being struck by the vehicle, Officer Eric Leavitt said. The motorist, who Leavitt initially only described as an unarmed male, died at the scene.
A two-officer unit about 10:40 a.m. encountered an already stopped blue pickup in the area of Statz Street and Emmons Avenue, near Lake Mead Boulevard, and conducted a self-initiated investigative contact.
The officers exited their squad car and gave the driver multiple commands, which he continuously ignored, Leavitt said. Sometime during the interaction, the man set the vehicle in drive and headed toward the officers.
After he struck one of them, the two cops opened fire and killed the man, Leavitt said. At least one eyewitness backed up the account, noting officers repeatedly instructed the driver to stop and said they’d shoot him if he failed to do so.
It wasn’t immediately clear why the officers were drawn to the vehicle in the first place.
Detectives were speaking with several witnesses, Leavitt said. Neither officer was equipped with a body camera.
The agency is testing recording devices, but the officers involved in the shooting were not a part of the pilot program, he said.
The shooting, the second involving North Las Vegas officers this year, is being probed by the agency’s detective and internal affairs units, as well as crime scene investigators, Leavitt said. A representative with the Clark County District Attorney’s Office responded to the scene.
A nearby elementary school was locked down as a precaution.
