Coroner’s inquest jury to rule on shooting by Metro officer
Friday, Feb. 16, 2001 | 10:37 a.m.
A Clark County coroner's inquest jury is expected to rule determine today if a Metro Police officer's shooting of a schizophrenic man wielding a knife last month was justified or criminal.
An inquest jury of seven people will hear testimony from the officers and others at the scene before deciding how to rule on the shooting. The inquest is a in Clark County District courtroom.
Officer Alfred Woodruff, 33, shot 27-year-old David Herrera several times Jan. 17 after officers tried unsuccessfully to get Herrera to drop the knife, police said.
Woodruff, Sgt. Juanita Goode and officers Won Cho, Sean Malia and Eric Heindel responded to Herrera's parent's house in the 4900 block of Terra Circle, near Tropicana Avenue and Nellis Boulevard, about 12:10 p.m. Herrera's mother called police after Herrera apparently threatened two state mental health workers, who she had asked to come to the house to help her son, police said.
The family has said there was no reason to shoot Herrera and he was not threatening the officers. The family could not be reached for further comment this morning.
Police said the officers did all they could before shooting Herrera about 12:40 p.m.
The officers talked with Herrera, urging him to drop the knife. Woodruff then fired four non-lethal rounds -- commonly called beanbags -- from a shotgun. The beanbags hit Herrera, but appeared to have little effect on him, police said.
Goode then sprayed Herrera with a large amount of pepper spray as Herrera came closer to the officers. The spray appeared to have little effect on him, police said.
Police said Herrera was within 5 feet of the officers and threatening them with the knife when Woodruff fired.
Coroner's inquests are normally held when an officer kills someone in the line of duty.
archive
- Most Read
- Discussed
- Most E-mailed
- Vdara hotel marks opening of CityCenter
- Greenspun reorganizes local media operation, cuts staff
- Harry Reid on mortgages: ‘Bank of America must do more’
- UNLV’s poise to be tested in first road game of season
- Employee files lawsuit against Amazon.com, seeks class-action status
- A sad day at the Sun, but a day for hope
- Bail set at $1 million in fatal Thanksgiving Day shooting
- Firefighter jailed for kicking teen boy after basketball game
- Report: Nevada among friendliest states for small businesses
- Sands plants flag in Singapore
Blogs
The Kats Report
Noteworthy: More from the Trop, Cher changes, Newton on CBS Sunday Morning
TUF Heavyweights
Marathon season finale
Politics: Ralston's Flash
Brian Sandoval is still against taxes, for limiting government and empowering people (6 Comments)
Elsewhere
TCU extends Gary Patterson through 2016
The Kats Report
Dissimilar landmarks -- Binion's and CityCenter -- reflect today's Las Vegas (7 Comments)
High School Sports Scene
Prep Football: State Championship (4 Comments)
Elsewhere
UFC debut in Boston likely July or August (1 Comment)
Calendar »
- 3 Thu
- 4 Fri
- 5 Sat
- 6 Sun
- 7 Mon
-
The Cranberries at The Pearl
The Pearl at the Palms | 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
-
Grand opening of Crystals at CityCenter
CityCenter-Crystals | 5 p.m. to 11:59 p.m.
-
Sans Age spa night at The Stirling Club featuring Danne' King
Stirling Club | 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
-
Bill Engvall at the Treasure Island Theatre
Treasure Island Theatre
-
Rodney Carrington at the MGM Hollywood Theater
MGM Grand Hotel and Casino
-
ILORI sunglass boutique grand opening
Ilori Sunglass Boutique | 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
The Sun
Locally owned and independent for more than 50 years.
Technorati






