NLV man shot in struggle with officer

Jace Radke

Monday, March 13, 2000 | 11:22 a.m.

Reporter Keith Paul contributed to this report.

Firing a gun in North Las Vegas city limits is a misdemeanor usually punishable by a citation.

That's why North Las Vegas Police are still wondering why 22-year-old Celso Paz didn't cooperate when SWAT officers ordered him and two friends to the ground shortly after midnight Saturday after neighbors reported guns had been fired in a back yard.

Instead police say Paz grabbed the barrel of SWAT Officer Dave Acosta's machine gun in an attempt to pull it away, and was shot in the hip, Lt. Chris Larotonda said.

"He was told to get down by the officers, and he wouldn't do it," Larotonda said. "As the officers approached, he grabbed the barrel of the closest officer's gun and pulled it. I don't know what he was thinking."

As the MP5 machine gun was being pulled away, Acosta squeezed off two shots, with at least one of them hitting Paz in the right side of his hip, Larotonda said.

Paz was listed in fair condition this morning in University Medical Center. Acosta was put on routine paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation into the shooting.

Around midnight Saturday SWAT and patrol officers arrived at 2628 Soledad Way, near Pecos Road and Carey Avenue, after getting several calls from residents who were hearing gunfire.

"They were calling up and saying it sounded like a war zone," Larotonda said. "We didn't know if we had two groups of people shooting at each other or what."

As about six officers approached the house, Paz and two other men walked out the front door, then one of the three went around to the back yard of the house, police said.

Two SWAT and two patrol officers began walking toward the two men who remained in front of the house and told them to get down on the ground. One did as he was told, Larotonda said, and Paz continued to stand, which led to the confrontation with the officer.

The other two men cooperated with police, who found about 45 spent shell casings, extra boxes of ammunition, a couple of cases of partially consumed beer and one handgun in the back yard. The handgun and two rifles from inside the house were confiscated by police.

"It looks like they were just in the back yard firing into the air," Larotonda said. "I don't think they were trying to hurt anyone, but it's stupid and ignorant to be firing guns into the air like that.

"The bullets have to come down somewhere."

Police found no evidence that any of the bullets hit any houses or cars in the neighborhood.

None of the three men were arrested, but they face charges of discharging a firearm inside city limits, and Paz could face an additional charge of obstructing an officer.