Use-of-force board clears Metro officer

Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2001 | 8:58 a.m.

An officer did not violate department guidelines when he shot and killed a man armed with a knife in downtown Las Vegas, a Metro Police use-of-force board ruled unanimously Monday night.

The board's ruling came a month after a Clark County coroner's inquest jury unanimously ruled Officer Greg Damarin's Aug. 12 shooting of Tommy L. Gest on Sixth Street at Carson Avenue was justified.

The use-of-force board exhonerated Damarin, 37, an officer for about 10 years, Deputy Chief Ray Flynn said.

Damarin, 37, and Officer Pam Schoening, 37, while on patrol Aug. 12 saw Gest, 38, swing a knife at a passerby. Gest lunged toward the patrol car as the officers approached, and continued to come toward the officers after they had drawn their handguns and ordered him to drop the knife.

Damarin, who was closest to Gest, fired one shot that killed Gest, police said.

Gest was paroled on July 30 from Southern Desert Correctional Center near Indian Springs from a 16-year prison sentence -- eight years for robbery and a consecutive eight-year sentence for the victim being over age 65, Nevada Department of Corrections officials said.

Metro's use-of-force board, made up of four citizens and three officers, reviews officers' actions when someone is killed or seriously hurt by an officer or whenever an officer fires a gun at a person.