Officer on leave following shooting at standoff

Jace Radke and Ed Koch

Monday, April 9, 2001 | 10:44 a.m.

A 12-year Metro Police officer is on administrative leave after being wounded in a shootout with a three-time felon Friday who died Saturday from apparent self-inflicted wounds.

The shootout ended a four-hour standoff in which a hostage had been taken.

Mark Fowler, 36, a member of the Special Weapons and Tactics unit, was released from the hospital and is recovering from a wound in his thigh, Metro Police said. Fowler also was shot in the chest, but the bullet was stopped by a bullet-proof vest.

Fellow SWAT member Robert Kegley, 35, a veteran of six years with Metro, also fired his weapon during the standoff and was on administrative leave with pay, per department policy.

Emit Rice, 34, of Las Vegas died at University Medical Center Saturday night from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound in his head, police and the coroner's office said.

Police said Rice had two burglary convictions in another state and a grand larceny conviction in Nevada. He had been arrested for lewdness with a person under age 14, but that charge was pending before the courts, police said.

Police were called to the 3700 block of Torrey Pines Drive, near Twain Avenue, about 9:45 p.m. Friday, and witnessed a man dragging a woman into a garage and shutting the door.

Surrounding homes were evacuated and Metro's SWAT team was called to the scene. Officers heard several shots fired and a woman's scream from inside the house, causing the SWAT team to storm the house in an effort to rescue the hostage, Capt. Dennis Cobb said.

The SWAT officers determined that the gunman and the hostage were on the second floor, and as they approached the staircase about 10:30 p.m., the gunman and police exchanged fire.

The standoff continued, with the suspect and the hostage barricaded upstairs. Negotiators persuaded the gunman to release the hostage about 1:15 a.m. Saturday. Shortly after her release police heard a single gunshot from an upstairs bathroom.

Police found Rice in a bathtub with a gunshot wound in his head.