Slain gunman issued threat to police

Keith Paul and Jace Radke

Monday, April 30, 2001 | 11:08 a.m.

A gunman called 911 Saturday night to inform dispatchers he would shoot any officer who came to his house. He made good on that promise when he fired and hit a Metro Police officer, who then shot back and killed him.

But detectives still don't know why the man, who hit one officer with a shotgun blast Saturday about 8:30 p.m., decided to shoot at officers.

"We're working hard on that today," Sgt. Rocky Alby of Metro's homicide unit said.

A woman called police from 5820 W. Desert Inn Road about a family dispute with her 49-year-old live-in boyfriend and stated that the man was drunk. While the woman was speaking, the phone went dead, Deputy Chief Ray Flynn said.

A man called from the house a short time later and made threats aimed at any officer who came to the house, Alby said.

Officers and a police helicopter went to the home at the corner of Desert Inn and Duneville Street and found a man in the back yard, police said.

Police said the man started shooting at them, then went back inside the house.

"The officers tried to get him to surrender peacefully," Flynn said. "An officer was talking to him on the phone, but the man refused to talk and hung up the phone."

The woman was able to escape from the house through a door that opened into the garage and ran to a nearby officer, police said.

The man exited the house armed with a shotgun and two handguns. The man fired a shotgun blast at the officer, hitting him in the head with several pellets from the blast. The officer shot back and killed the man, whose name had not been released this morning.

The officer, who has been with the department for about two years, was taken to University Medical Center, where he was treated and released Saturday at 11 p.m., hospital officials said.

The injured officer's name will not be released for 48 hours per Metro policy. The officer will be on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an Clark County Coroner's inquest.

Saturday's shooting was the second time in a little more than 24 hours that a Metro officer shot at a suspect.

On Friday about 8 p.m. Metro Sgt. Martha Schofield, 37, an officer for about 14 years, suffered a fractured finger when a man wielding a bat attacked her near the Stratosphere hotel-casino.

Schofield was responding to a report of a man swinging a bat at pedestrians in the 2300 block of Las Vegas Boulevard South, and when she confronted Jose Manuel Sanchez, 38, he came at her, police said.

She ordered Sanchez to drop the bat, but the man did not. As she attempted to block a blow with her baton the bat struck her left hand. The sergeant fired one shot, grazing the suspect's left thigh. Sanchez began to run north on Las Vegas Boulevard, police said.

Police chased Sanchez to a motel parking lot near Baltimore Avenue. Sanchez stabbed himself in the chest several times with a knife. An officer shot Sanchez with a shotgun that fires beanbags. Sanchez fell to the ground and was taken into custody.

Sanchez was taken to University Medical Center, where he was treated for his injuries.

Sanchez was charged with attempted murder of a police officer, assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a controlled substance and resisting arrest. Sanchez is a registered ex-felon for drug charges and has a previous conviction for battery on an officer.