Bomb materials are found in shootout scene

Keith Paul

Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2001 | 11:29 a.m.

An arsenal of assault rifles, shotguns and handguns along with a chemical component used for making bombs were found in the apartment where three Metro Police officers were ambushed, police said this morning.

In addition to the assault rifle and shotgun used in the attack that left two officers and an apartment security guard wounded, police found three shotguns, two assault rifles, five handguns and powdered aluminum, a bomb component, Lt. Wayne Petersen of Metro's homicide unit said.

Three officers were called to the Hampton Court Apartments on Swenson Street near Flamingo Road about 8:30 p.m. Sunday after a report of a shot being fired. Detectives are still trying to determine what started the ambush. The surviving suspect has told several stories, including that an accidental shot prompted the call to police, Petersen said.

When the officers arrived, they found a window with a bullet hole and all of the lights out in the apartment. The front door was locked, and no one answered the door. Fearing someone may have been injured inside, police asked the security guard to retrieve the key, after which the police opened the door to the apartment.

As soon as they entered the apartment and identified themselves as police, the officers were met with gunfire from an assault rifle and a shotgun. Two of the officers returned fire as they backed out of the residence.

"It is really amazing that the officers got out of there alive with the amount of gunfire," Petersen said. "It really looked like Beirut out there."

A 30-year-old sergeant was wounded by a bullet that pierced his bullet-resistant vest and went into his shoulder. He was released from University Medical Center on Monday. A 29-year-old officer hit in the shoulder and face with a shotgun blast was in fair condition this morning. Martin Lorenzo, the security guard who was shot in the leg, was in good condition.

The officers' names will not be released until 48 hours after the shooting, as per department policy on officer-involved shootings.

Officers found 37-year-old Francisco Benitez, the apartment resident and a maintenance worker, dead from a gunshot that may have been self inflicted during a seven-hour standoff.

A second suspect, Jose Vallejo, 44, who surrendered about 30 minutes after the initial hail of bullets, was booked on three counts of attempted murder of a police officer and one count of attempted murder. He was not injured.

An autopsy scheduled to be performed today will determine if Benitez shot himself, Ron Flud, Clark County coroner, said.

Flud said he most likely will not order an inquest if the autopsy determines Benitez killed himself.

However, if Benitez was killed by officers returning fire, Vallejo could be charged with murder, Clark County District Attorney Stewart Bell, said.

"If two people are involved in a crime and a third party kills one of the suspects, the law allows for the surviving suspect to be charged with second-degree murder," Bell said. "In this case, we will wait for the (police) investigation report and then decide what charges to file."

The officers faced at least 30 shots from an assault rifle -- rounds that can pierce a bullet-resistant vest -- and at least four shotgun blasts. The wounded officer and the third officer, who was not injured, fired about 30 bullets at the suspects, Petersen said.

Bullet holes could be seen in the apartment's door and walls, and bullet holes were found in the apartment across the courtyard. Residents gathered Monday afternoon pointing to the bullet holes in the walls and trading stories about where they were when the shooting started.

About 85 resident were evacuated from the apartment complex after the shootings, and the last residents weren't allowed back into their apartments until Monday morning.

Police negotiators tried for hours Sunday night into early Monday to contact the suspect, who was still barricaded in the apartment. The man never answered any attempts to talk to him.

SWAT officers fired tear gas into the apartment and later sent in a police dog, which alerted the officers the man was no longer a threat. When officers entered the apartment, Benitez was found dead.

Police also found a brick package of a white powder drug and seven or eight brick packages of suspected marijuana, Petersen said.

The officers are on administrative leave with pay pending the outcome of the investigation, which is standard department policy.

Benitez has an arrest in 1996 for willfully pointing a firearm, Petersen said.