Police officer shoots knife-toting LV man

Dan Kulin

Friday, March 26, 2004 | 9:41 a.m.

A Las Vegas man armed with a knife who police say was suicidal and threatening to harm others was shot by a Metro Police officer Thursday morning when the man charged at the officer, police said.

The man, who police identified as 32-year-old Richard Terlitz, was taken to University Medical Center and was expected to survive, police said. Terlitz will be involuntarily committed for a psychiatric evaluation when he leaves UMC. A decision on whether to press criminal charges against Terlitz will be made after that evaluation, police said.

According to a statement from police, about 9 a.m. Thursday police responded to a call that a man was waving a knife and threatening to kill himself and others.

When an officer arrived at the Shadow Brook Apartments at 3851 Wynn Road, the officer saw a man waving a knife and yelling.

"He was alternately screaming that he wanted to kill himself, that he wanted the police officer to kill him, and that he was going to kill bystanders," the police statement said.

The man then approached the officer and ignored orders to stop and drop the knife. The man then charged the officer "with the knife in a position as if to stab the officer," the statement said.

The officer fired at the man at least three times, wounding the man in the pelvis, according to the statement and Capt. Tom Lozich.

Lozich said he did not know if the officer had a Taser, a gun-like weapon that uses a strong electric shock to incapacitate those struck with it.

But Lozich said even if the officer had a Taser with him, he would not have used it in this situation.

"He was confronted with a deadly force situation. I don't think a Taser would have been the right choice in this situation," Lozich said.

Following police policy, the officer's name will not be released until 48 hours after the incident, and the officer has been placed on administrative leave.

A use of force review board, made up of citizens and police, will review the incident.

Including the Thursday shooting, six Metro officers have been involved in five incidents in which officers fired at suspects this year, Lozich said.

Two of those incidents resulted in the death of the suspects, he said.

The last such incident was Feb. 14, when two officers were involved in a shooting on Dumont Boulevard in which the suspect died, Lozich said.

Metro officers have been cleared of any wrongdoing in the earlier shootings, he said.