Police defend shooting of defiant Las Vegas man

Keith Paul

Thursday, Jan. 18, 2001 | 11:03 a.m.

Metro Police said today they had no option but to shoot a 27-year-old schizophrenic man who lunged at an officer with a knife after officers tried to disarm him with nonlethal weapons.

David Herrera died shortly after 1 p.m. Wednesday at University Medical Center, about half an hour after being shot at the southeast area home of his mother, who had called police to subdue him.

"The woman (who called 911) said she was in fear of her life," Deputy Chief Ray Flynn said.

Friends of the family said all Herrera's mother wanted was to get her son some help and said the shooting was uncalled for. Herrera's parents could not be reached for comment this morning.

She tried to get him to take his medication to keep his mental illness in check, friends who asked not to be identified said.

When four Metro Police officers arrived about 12:15 p.m. at the home in the 4900 block of Terra Circle, near Tropicana Avenue and Nellis Boulevard, they found Herrera by the door of the house holding a large kitchen knife.

Herrera apparently confronted the sergeant and three patrol officers in the driveway. The officers tried to persuade him to put the knife down, Flynn said.

The officers continued to talk with Herrera, but Flynn said their efforts to talk him into dropping the knife were not working and Herrera started moving toward the officers.

One of the officers fired four non-lethal rounds -- commonly called beanbags -- from a shotgun. The beanbags hit Herrera, but appeared to have little effect on him. Another officer then sprayed Herrera with a large amount of pepper spray as Herrera came closer to the officers.

"The (pepper) spray appeared to have no effect on him," Flynn said. "He continued to come at the officers."

Then one of the officers fired several shots from his semiautomatic service handgun. The officer fired when Herrera was within 5 feet of him with the knife, police said.

The officer was put on administrative leave with pay, which is normal procedure in officer-involved shootings. Metro will not release his name until 48 hours after the shooting, also department policy.

Friends of the family, who did not want to be identified, said Herrera's mother claimed there was no reason to shoot her son.

A friend of Herrera's father said Herrera had some mental health problems but never acted violently.

Herrera was a registered felon for a conviction of carrying a concealed weapon in California.

A neighbor, Tiffany Gibbs, said she heard the officers tell Herrera several times to drop the knife before the shots were fired.

"I heard them yell 'Put down the knife' and 'Drop the knife,' and then I heard the shots," she said.

Police maintained the officers tried everything they could to get Herrera to surrender, but he kept moving toward the officers, threatening them with the knife.

"After firing four (beanbag rounds) and using the (pepper) spray, the officers were left with no choice but to fire to protect themselves," Flynn said.

Capt. Dennis Cobb said all officers are trained in the use of the pepper spray and the shotgun that fires beanbag rounds. He said in many cases the spray and the beanbag shotgun can disarm a suspect.

"The beanbag's impact has been described as getting hit by a professionally pitched baseball. It's like Nolan Ryan hit you with a pitch," Cobb said. "The impact of the beanbag stings and often dissuades the person."