Police shoot, kill man in LV

Jace Radke

Monday, Aug. 13, 2001 | 11:06 a.m.

A man who Metro Police say was wielding a knife and coming toward two officers was shot and killed by a police officer Sunday morning.

The shooting occurred about 8:50 a.m. at the intersection of Carson Avenue and 6th Street, Capt. Dennis Cobb said.

The man, who had not been identified this morning, was spotted with a knife in his hand in the downtown neighborhood by two officers in a patrol car, Cobb said.

The officers saw the shirtless man swing the knife at a passer-by and drove up to where the man was standing. Police say the suspect then lunged toward the patrol car with the knife. The officers made a U-turn to put some space between themselves and the suspect.

After the patrol car stopped, the man continued to come toward the officers, despite the fact that they had drawn their weapons and ordered him to drop the knife, Cobb said.

The officer closest to the suspect then fired one shot that struck the man in the chest. The suspect fell to the ground, still clasping the knife, and died at the scene, police said.

The two officers involved in the incident have been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation, and their names will not be released for 48 hours, per department policy.

Metro Police officers last shot someone on July 21, when officers confronted a man who police say raised a knife and advanced toward a 5-year-old in an apartment near Charleston and Lamb boulevards. Police first shot Ronnie Russell, 36, with low-lethality beanbag rounds, but when he continued toward the child, a sergeant shot the Russell in the chest, seriously injuring him.

The last time a Metro officer killed someone was on June 2, when two officers shot 21-year-old Jeff Canterbury in an apartment on Tam Drive near Baltimore Avenue. Canterbury, who was wanted on a warrant charging him with the May 26 slaying of a Henderson man, was found in a bed with his 17-year-old girlfriend.

A Clark County coroner's inquest jury found that police were justified in that shooting, after hearing testimony that Canterbury had a gun stuck into the side of the girlfriend, then raised the gun at the officers.