North Las Vegas officer shoots, kills man in front of home

Heather Rawlyk

Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2004 | 11:11 a.m.

A North Las Vegas Police officer shot and killed a man Tuesday night who allegedly fired several shots at police in front of his home.

A relative of Antonio Corona-Mendoza, 28, of North Las Vegsa called police about 8:30 p.m. and said Corona-Mendoza was shooting a gun inside the house and wouldn't stop, according to Officer Tim Bedwell, North Las Vegas Police spokesman.

When officers arrived at the house, in the 1800 block of Harvard Street near East Lake Mead Boulevard, they found Corona-Mendoza standing in his front lawn firing a revolver into the neighborhood, Bedwell said.

"Several shots went toward the officers, and one of them (the officers) returned fire and hit the man," Bedwell said.

Corona-Mendoza was taken to University Medical Center and was pronounced dead.

"The man was shooting out into the open and could have shot not only our officers, but anyone in this neighborhood," Bedwell said. "It could have been a 3-year-old across the street or a neighbor walking their dog. Once the bullets went near the officer, he had to put an end to it."

The officer, a 12-year veteran of the police department, has been placed on routine administrative leave pending a coroner's inquest. His name is being withheld for 48 hours.

This was the second killing by a police officer in the Las Vegas Valley in less than 24 hours.

Tuesday morning a Metro Police officer shot a man who allegedly threatened the officer with a gun in the garage of a house near Robindale Road and Rainbow Boulevard.