Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2019 | 9:55 a.m.
Metro Police identified two officers they say were involved in the shooting of a man who got out of a vehicle with a gun in his hand following a pair of botched casino robberies Monday in Laughlin.
Officers Cory Mikkelson, 52, and John Susich, 42, are assigned to Metro’s SWAT team. They have been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of a review of the incident, police said.
Mikkelson has been employed with Metro since August 1994, and Susich has been with the department since March 2006.
The man was shot after a nearly seven-hour standoff outside the Aquarius Casino Resort, police said.
Cashiers at the Golden Nugget and Aquarius refused to hand over cash, even though the man placed a handgun on the counter in both attempted robberies, about 1 a.m. and 1:30 a.m., Capt. Nichole Splinter said.
The man fired one shot toward a security guard who followed him out of the Aquarius toward a parked vehicle, Splinter said. The guard wasn’t injured.
Police surrounded the man in the vehicle and tried for several hours to talk him into surrendering before SWAT officers arrived.
Splinter says the man had a gun in his hand and was getting out of the vehicle after 7 a.m. when he was shot and killed by officers.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
