Knife-wielding man’s standoff with police ends in his death

Karen Zekan

Thursday, Oct. 22, 1998 | 11:17 a.m.

It could have been a guilty conscience.

That, or the shame and anger 51-year-old Lonnie James was probably feeling, having been accused just 12 hours earlier of molesting his wife's three young grandchildren.

Whatever his motivation, authorities say the Las Vegas man ran to his death Wednesday morning upon his own volition -- charging at armed officers in a classic case of "suicide by cop."

Half a dozen officers spent 45 minutes unsuccessfully pleading for James to surrender near the corner of Rainbow Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue, where he spent most of the time sitting atop a dirt berm about 10 feet high, just south of the Walgreen's drug store. That's where they found him at 8:24 a.m.

He had called Metro's sexual-abuse detail at 8:16 a.m., asking to speak to a detective when the secretary answered. When he was told that all detectives were in a meeting, police said James informed the woman where authorities could find him, adding, "I'm going to kill the first person who comes near me."

When police arrived, he kept one hand clutched on a footlong butcher knife, saying they would have to kill him, according to Deputy Chief Paul Conner.

Toward the end of negotiations, James walked down the berm. He was on level ground when, according to police, shortly after 9 a.m. he suddenly charged at the officers -- at least two of whom responded by discharging large cans of pepper spray.

Within seconds, however, one officer dropped his drained can of spray and pulled his weapon, firing three times as James came at him with one hand holding a jacket over his head to block the spray and the other slashing the knife through the air, police said.

"The suspect was approximately 6 to 8 feet from the officer (who fired the fatal rounds)," Conner said. "The suspect had told family members, and officers at the scene, that he would not be taken alive."

Paramedics rushed the bleeding James to University Medical Center, where he died from two bullet wounds. The officer's identity will not be released until 48 hours after the shooting, as part of department policy. He was placed on paid administrative leave and is required to meet with a psychologist.

Conner said James had been convicted three times in California on child-molestation charges.

Metro detectives took a report about 8 p.m. Tuesday that the man had victimized his wife's granddaughters, ages 6, 8, and 12. The latest incident was believed to have been about a month ago in the 5000 block of South Rainbow, police said.

A coroner's inquest will be held in coming weeks to dissect the shooting and determine whether the officer fired in self-defense -- whether the situation was, as the courts term it, a "justifiable homicide."

All officer-involved shootings in Metro's history have been ruled justifiable.

Officers' training in diversionary tactics are what most often saves lives.

A small percentage of calls do, however, end with officers using deadly force -- the suspects that refuse to stop on command, threaten another's life or aim their weapons directly at police.

So far this this year, Metro officers have used potentially deadly force against 11 people, two of whom died. Last year, two people died out of nine officer-involved shootings.