Officers’ actions in shootout clear use-of-force panel

Keith Paul

Friday, Aug. 3, 2001 | 10:47 a.m.

Metro Police's use-of-force board ruled Thursday that two SWAT officers acted properly when they fired at a man who shot one of the officers. The man also had taken a woman hostage.

The seven-member board unanimously ruled Officers Mark Fowler, 36, and Robert Kegley, 35, acted within department policies when they shot at Emit Rice, 33, on April 6 at a house in the 3700 block of Torrey Pines Drive near Twain Avenue, Deputy Chief Ray Flynn said.

Fowler was shot in the chest and thigh. His bullet-resistant vest saved his life, Flynn said. Fowler is back to work but will not return to full duty for another couple of months, Flynn said.

The officers pulled back from the house. Rice eventually released the woman and then shot and killed himself. The Clark County coroner's office ruled Rice's death a suicide.

Rice was released from the Clark County jail on $25,000 bond in September after being charged the previous month with sexual assault on a victim under 16 and two counts of lewdness with a child under 14. He had a previous conviction for larceny, according to court records.

Officers were called to the house about 9:40 p.m. April 6 on a domestic violence call. Patrol officers pulled up to the house and saw Rice dragging the woman into the garage of the home.

SWAT officers arrived and heard several shots coming from inside the house. The SWAT team entered the home and determined Rice was on the second floor. As the officers approached the staircase, Rice fired at them.

Fowler, a 12-year Metro officer, fired four shots and Kegley, a six-year Metro officer, fired one shot. None of the shots fired by the officers struck anyone, police said.

Because Rice's death was ruled a suicide there was no coroner's inquest, in which a jury rules whether an officer was justified in connection with a shooting death.

Metro's use-of-force board, composed of four residents and three officers, reviews officers' actions when someone is killed or seriously hurt by an officer or whenever an officer shoots at a person.

The board has reviewed 10 cases this year and has cleared the officers in each instance.