Police shoot armed man after he threatened roommate

By Craig Peterson, Jean Reid Norman

Published Sunday, April 12, 2009 | 12:55 p.m.

Updated Sunday, April 12, 2009 | 5:26 p.m.

A 37-year-old man is in stable condition after being shot by a Metro Police officer during an altercation early Sunday morning.

Just after 2 a.m., officers were called to the 4500 block of Swandale Avenue, where a man with two knives was threatening his roommate and threatening to kill himself, a police spokesman said.

The first officers on the scene ordered the man to drop the weapons and surrender, a police spokesman said. The man, who was outside, refused and placed a knife to his own throat.

An officer fired one round and shot the man when he tried to re-enter the residence, where his 71-year-old roommate was.

Julio Velazquez was taken to Sunrise Trauma Center, where he was listed in stable condition, police said. He had not been charged with any crimes by mid-afternoon.

The roommate said Velazquez has lived with him for eight years and has been like a son to him.

Both were Cuban immigrants, said the roommate, who asked that his name not be used. They met through mutual friends, and the elder man helped the younger one, whom he said had no family in the area.

“I know what it is like to be an immigrant and be alone,” said the roommate, who came to the United States in 1971. He has lived in Las Vegas for 38 years, 24 of them in the house on Swandale, he said.

The roommate said it was sad, because the younger man can no longer live with him.

“I don’t want to live this way,” he said.

The incident closed off the normally quiet street for about an hour, neighbor Adrian Revolorio said. The gunshot woke him about 2:30 a.m., he said.

This is the seventh officer-involved shooting in Metro’s jurisdiction this year. Per department policy, the name of the officer involved in this incident will be released after 48 hours. The investigation into this event incident remains ongoing.