Metro: Man shot on McCarran tarmac attacked officers, badly injured one

By Ricardo Torres-Cortez

Saturday, Nov. 23, 2019 | 11:58 a.m.

Before he was stopped by two gunshot wounds to the midsection, a suspect who breached a secure area at McCarran International Airport and got onto the tarmac early Thursday fractured an officer’s face, knocked a second officer to the ground and ran at the sergeant who shot him, according to Metro Police.

Jordan Henry, 32, was stabilized at University Medical Center but remained in critical condition two days after the shooting, said Clark County Assistant Sheriff Charles Hank in a briefing today.

Investigators were trying to determine what Henry, an Indianapolis resident who’d been in Las Vegas four days before the shooting, was doing at the airport Thursday. He’d missed a flight the previous day and didn’t have a ticket for another one, Hank said.

Metro also is searching for a second person who had accompanied him to the airport but was not present during the breach, Hank said.

The incident began about 3:15 a.m. in Terminal 3, where Henry triggered alarms when he went behind a ticket counter into a secured employee area. When officers located Henry, he was at a baggage handling area on the tarmac near Terminal 1.

A Metro officer tried to escort Henry to a public area, Hank said. The interaction was captured on the officer’s body-worn camera shown during today's briefing.

Henry became “irate” when the officer tried to pat him down, and he charged at a second officer who pulled up in his patrol vehicle, Hank said. Metro is unsure why Henry was upset.

He knocked the second officer unconscious for a few seconds, breaking his nose and fracturing his orbital, Hank said. Around the same time, both officers fired their stun guns, but the devices proved ineffective, he added.

A foot chase ensued and Sgt. Jason Hansen, 43, joined in, Hank said. When Henry found himself cornered by a police cruiser, he turned around and charged at one of the other officers, who was trying to step back, knocking that officer to the ground, Hank said.

Henry then directed his attention to Hansen, ignored the sergeant’s commands to stop and was shot as he began to charge at him about 4 a.m., Hank said.

In accordance with Metro policy regarding officer-involved shootings, Hansen was the only officer identified publicly in the incident. Metro does not identify officers who do not fire their weapons.

Hank said Henry had been arrested in Georgia on two counts of battery on a law enforcement officer and one count of obstructing an officer.

Hansen was placed on routine paid administrative leave while the investigation was ongoing. The injured officer was expected to be OK.