Cause of man’s death after shooting still pending

Monday, Aug. 25, 2008 | 4:03 p.m.

The Clark County coroner is still investigating the death of a 30-year-old Henderson man who shot himself and was shot by police Sunday at a house near College Avenue and East Horizon Drive.

Henderson Police Department officers arrived about 2:20 a.m. Sunday after a woman said her husband was fighting with their roommate inside the house.

When three officers arrived at the house, the woman and roommate were outside, police said.

Officers went into the house and heard the man, identified by the coroner as James Heitkotter, inside a bedroom with the door closed. Police asked the man to leave the room. He refused.

Officers opened the door to find the man sitting on the bed with the barrel of a rifle at his head. The officers, who remained in the hallway, said they ordered the man to put the gun down, but the man refused, police said.

The man then rose from the bed toward the officers with the rifle in his hands, police said. The man fired the rifle almost simultaneously as two of the officers fired, police said.

The man then shot himself in the head, according to police. One of the officer's rounds struck the man in the shoulder area and a bullet fired by the other officer missed, police said.

Police said the medical examiner deemed the shoulder wound to not be life threatening.

The names of the officers involved in the shooting will be released in 48 hours from the time of the incident, per police department policy. The two officers have been placed on routine paid administrative leave during the investigation of the incident.