Officer shoots, kills carjacking suspect

Monday, Dec. 27, 2004 | 9:36 a.m.

A Metro Police officer shot and killed a man who allegedly had tried to steal a vehicle early Sunday morning near Fashion Show mall and then allegedly had attacked the officer with his own baton.

The victim of the carjacking pointed out the suspect to police about 2:15 a.m., after the man tried to steal the car in the parking lot of mall, which faces the Strip at Spring Mountain Road, police said.

The suspect at first fled from the officer, then turned and challenged the officer, police said. The officer at first used his baton to take the man into custody, then his Taser, but both instruments failed to stop the man.

The suspect allegedly gained control of the officer's baton and swung it at the officer, so the officer fired a handgun at the man.

The man was pronounced dead at University Medical Center's Trauma Unit.

The man's name was not released by authorities this morning, and neither was the name of the officer who killed him. The officer's name was being withheld for 48 hours in accordance with department policy, police said. The officer was placed on paid administrative leave, as is the policy for all Metro officers who shoot suspects.