Man killed as police serve search warrant

Jen Lawson and Heather Rawlyk

Wednesday, April 28, 2004 | 11:01 a.m.

A 44-year-old man was shot and killed by a North Las Vegas Police officer Tuesday afternoon as police attempted to serve a search warrant for drugs inside a Las Vegas apartment, police said.

The man, identified by the coroner's office as Rogelio Lopez, died of his injuries shortly after arriving at University Medical Center.

The shooting occurred about 1:20 p.m. North Las Vegas officers were conducting a drug investigation relating to the sale of methamphetamine in their city and arrived at the apartment in the 500 block of North 15th Street, near Bonanza Road and Maryland Parkway, with a search warrant, North Las Vegas Police spokesman Tim Bedwell said.

It's not unusual for police to cross jurisdictional boundaries while conducting investigations and serving warrants in the Las Vegas Valley, police said.

North Las Vegas Police were releasing few details about what led up to the shooting. Bedwell said they wanted to make sure they knew all the facts before releasing them.

He said he could not comment on whether Lopez lived in the apartment, had a weapon or pointed anything at police.

"The officers felt they were threatened in some way and shot the man," Bedwell said.

No police officers were injured in the incident. Several officers were there when the shooting occurred, but Bedwell said it appeared that only one fired.

Although the killing occurred in Las Vegas, it's considered a North Las Vegas incident and will be investigated by detectives from that agency, not Metro, which Bedwell said is routine.

"The only time another agency would be involved is if there is some concern for impropriety or a conflict of interest," he said. "There's no reason to bring in another agency."

Under most other circumstances, a killing in Metro's jurisdiction would be investigated by Metro.

In this case, having Metro investigate "would lend some modest degree of independence that doesn't currently exist," Gary Peck, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, said.

But he thinks Metro Police are too cozy with North Las Vegas police to ensure complete objectivity on an investigation of this type.

"Having one local law enforcement agency investigate another local law enforcement agency leaves a lot to be desired in terms of having a really true, independent and objective inquiry," he said.

Metro Police could not be reached for comment this morning.

North Las Vegas officers were involved in three officer-involved shootings last year. One was fatal.

Tuesday's shooting was one too many for Alma Ybarra, who moved into her brother's home nearby on Sunday. She said she isn't sticking around the neighborhood.

"This worries me and I'm scared now," she said. "I'm scared for my children, so we're packing up tonight (Tuesday) and leaving tomorrow."

Ybarra said she and her children, ages 1, 3 and 6, had passed the house where the shooting occurred about 45 minutes before officers arrived.

"We were just walking back from the grocery store with our groceries," she said, pointing to the house. "We could have been walking by when a shooting like that happened."

Ybarra said she was in her brother's back yard where her children were playing when she heard a series of gunshots.

"I heard four or five gunshots, but I couldn't tell where it came from or if it was really gunshots," she said. "I thought it might be someone throwing something at the Dumpster. My son said he heard fireworks.

"I walked out front, and saw the police out here and knew that someone had been shot."

The officer who shot the man has been put on paid administrative leave until a coroner's inquest takes place, Bedwell said. The officer's name will be released Thursday afternoon, 48 hours after the shooting.