Shooting was second for Metro cop

Jen Lawson

Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2003 | 11:12 a.m.

A Metro Police officer who shot and wounded a suspected prowler Friday in Summerlin was involved in a fatal shooting two years ago.

Officer Bryan Yant, 27, shot and killed robbery suspect Richard Travis Brown in November 2001 after Brown allegedly pointed a gun at Yant during a foot chase. A coroner's inquest jury deemed the killing justified.

In Friday's incident, a resident of the upscale Country Club Hills subdivision near Summerlin Parkway and Town Center Drive called police about 5 a.m. to report a prowler in her back yard.

When Yant arrived, he heard a banging noise coming from the side of the house, the police report says.

He spotted the suspect, Melvin Gilchrist, 26 in the side yard and commanded him to come out, according to the police report. Instead, Gilchrist allegedly jumped up onto the gate and Yant saw what he thought was a shotgun in his right hand and a smaller object in his left hand.

Yant began backing up while telling Gilchrist to drop the objects, the report says. Gilchrist ignored him and jumped from the gate and charged toward the officer, according to the arrest report.

Believing he would be shot, Yant fired shots at Gilchrist, and Gilchrist threw one of the objects, a large butcher knife, at him. Yant wasn't hit.

The suspect ran as Yant yelled for him to stop. Gilchrist turned and pointed the other item at the officer. Yant, thinking it was a shotgun, fired at him again. The object was an aluminum baseball bat.

Gilchrist ran about 20 feet, then collapsed in the street. He was treated at University Medical Center for a gunshot wound in the hip and was released into police custody. He was charged with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer.

He is being held in Clark County Detention Center on $20,000 bail. He makes his first appearance in justice court this morning.

Yant had been on the force for 14 months when he killed Brown in 2001.

Brown, whom police said was addicted to crack cocaine, had been wanted for the robberies of at least 40 businesses -- all convenience stores, doughnut shops or pizza parlors -- in the fall of 2001.

After Brown robbed a market, he led officers on a high-speed car chase, Brown jumped from his vehicle and ran. Yant chased him and ordered him to show his hands.

Yant fired several shots when Brown allegedly pointed his right arm behind him with something black in his hand. Police found a handgun near where Brown fell after he was shot.

Brown died several hours later. A coroner's inquest jury ruled 6 to 1 that the shooting was justified.

Yant has been on administrative leave with pay since Friday's shooting in Summerlin. His actions will be reviewed by Metro's use-of-force board, which investigates all cases in which officers fire guns at citizens.