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Published Monday, June 14, 2010 | 9:37 a.m.
Updated Monday, June 14, 2010 | 11:06 a.m.
Sun Coverage
Officer-involved shooting
Metro Police this morning identified a detective who fired a fatal shot Friday night at an apartment complex as narcotics officers were executing a search warrant. The Clark County Coroner's Office also identified the man who was killed.
Authorities said Metro Detective Brian Yant, 34, fired a single shot at about 9 p.m. at the Mirabella apartment complex at 2850 E. Bonanza Road. The coroner said this morning that 21-year-old Trevon Bertwane Cole, of Las Vegas, died at the scene a short time later, police said.
Yant has been with Metro since September 2000 and is assigned to the narcotics division.
According to police, detectives knocked and announced their presence at the apartment, but after receiving no response, the detectives entered the apartment. A pregnant woman was found hiding in a bedroom closet and was taken into custody, police said.
Detectives then tried to enter a bathroom where the suspect was hiding. Police said Cole made a “furtive movement” toward Yant, who fired a shot, fatally wounding Cole.
Yant was placed on administrative leave while the incident is under investigation, which is standard department policy.
Metro PD detective with 8 years experience takes no chances with doper scumbags. Excellent.
*makes furtive movement towards keyboard*
pierre - you're a cop, right?
"furtive movement" = breathing, right?
try to remember, even if you live in Nevada, that cops do not have the right to kill first, then lie about it later.
Pierre...harsh & weird comment...remember, karma is real and revengeful...being confronted in one's bathroom and reacting with a 'furtive movement' should not be a death sentence...society doesn't get to kill people we view as 'scumbags'...
You mean one more? More like one more unarmed man off the streets.
So no narcotics were found and the resident was in his bathroom and unarmed when the police kicked in his door and killed him. This whole thing stinks... How can the officer say he feared for his life with 20 other armed cops against one unarmed man and a pregnant women? This was not equal force and should be fully investigated.
Reading the RJ, the woman say they've only lived there one month and the warrant might not have even been for the current residents. Time will tell.
Why not detain the suspect when he leaves his apartment then safely search the residence?
The overuse of "knock and announce" raids and there subsequent violence will do more for pot legalization then all the pro-pot organizations combined could ever accomplish, how ironic.
I hope this lady sues.
If there was nothing to hide, why were the residents found hiding? If you are confronted by the police, don't hide, don't make sudden movements, and you probably will not be fatally wounded. Common sense please.
don't make sudden movements? I thought this was america where you INNOCENT TIL PROVEN GUILTY. the cops have killed so many unarmed ppl in LV and nothing happens. only a fool would not fear the police in this city
common sense? u need to read the constitution more importantly the bill of rights or maybe those don't apply in nevada
kg, it's getting where more and more people a) don't think it is really the police at the door, and b) trust the police even less than they would a home invader. In the latter case at least they KNOW they need to defend themselves.
If vegasstudent is correct with his facts then Metro is in a world of hurt on this one.
...kg, if one were afraid of the police, it would seem reasonable to hide...I am a 56 year old fat white guy, but if they break into my home at night, they will find me hiding as well...fear overrides most people's common sense...
Another life lost and more taxpayer money wasted in the ridiculous "War on Drugs."
kg says:
"If there was nothing to hide, why were the residents found hiding? If you are confronted by the police, don't hide, don't make sudden movements, and you probably will not be fatally wounded. Common sense please."
Lets see, home invasions occurring almost daily could be a reason. I've read articles where many times the home invaders dress in black, just like the police and yell "police" as they bust down doors.
The repeated overuse of "knock and announce" raids is putting every ones lives in jeopardy, police included.
We'll end up with a dead child, like in Detroit a couple of weeks ago, if they insist on repeatedly going after non-violent suspects via dynamic entry with guns blazing.
The warrant may only be good a couple days but who knows if the police identified the right address for the person they were looking for. They may not have known the person moved.
Mike, One shot fired at a suspect who is making a sudden movement toward the officer is not exactly "guns blazing" now, is it? This is a very high crime and dangerous area of town. Drug dealers are scum and their "precious" life has no value to law abiding victims of their crimes. (their customers steal from you and me to buy the drugs). So he happened to be "out of stock" at the time. People are sick and tired of criminals destroying our way of life. Metro did a good job here protecting their safety as well as ours.
I find it odd that not many details have surfaced about this incident. Usually by now we know if the suspect was armed, if drugs were found, if he had a criminal record, etc. Methinks Metro killed an innocent person here. My condolences to his family and to his fiancee, and the baby that will never meet her daddy.
Sometimes the truth is hard to divine.
The first television interview with Ms. Pearce made it sound like Metro had bad information, in obtaining their search warrant, and that it was not executed properly (assuming it was not a "no knock warrant").
Then I saw another television interview with Ms. Pearce taped a day later, and she contradicted what she said in that first interview.
So at this point, in fairness to Officer Yant, who cannot speak to the press at this time, I think if would be more than fair if the full set of affidavits supporting the issuance of the search warrant were released to the press, along with any transcript of the presentation of the search warrant to the court for signature.
What was the affiants' basis for believing that drugs in significant quantity were being kept in this particular apartment?
I have a great deal of trouble believing that Metro is so sloppy that they would have obtained a search warrant relating to an unnamed "suspect" using a month old address, without confirming the continued residence of that suspect in the premises named in the search warrant.
I get more than a bit irritated with the local television stations for airing only one side of the story. Where has Metro's press liason been? Until this morning, I had not once heard a TV reporter say "Metro declined to comment" or giving Metro's side of the story.
Metro has "blown the news cycle" because now this woman and her family have been on television for several days, telling their side of the story, without any appropriate explanation from Metro about their side of the story.
This is the third person Officer Yant has shot in his ten years on Metro. First was a fleeing armed robber - no problem there.
Second was a guy who Yant said charged him with a baseball bat and a knife, and Yant said the knife looked like a shotgun. Same mistake a lot of us have made. Knives and shotguns are easily confused, and look a lot alike. Ruled justified by Metro's firearms review board.
That shooting would have been justified anyway - guy charging a cop with a knife and bat - but why make some preposterous claim that, even if it was true, no one with any common sense would believe? Why lie when the truth would suffice?
Interesting to see what testimony comes out of this one before it's ruled a justified killing.
"As long as this country--its electorate, its political leaders--remains addicted to current drug laws, the police will have to enforce those laws. But where is it written that they must show up in the dead of night, armed and armored, in order to do so? What's wrong with reliable intelligence, expert surveillance, a traffic stop at three in the afternoon, a court-authorized search of an empty house?" Retired Seattle Police Chief, Norm Stamper
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/norm-stamp...
I am surprised the scumbucket LVMPD Narco Cops did not drop some drugs and a gun on the guy while dying.
Just because the news doesn't say if any drugs were found during the warrant or not does not mean that no drugs were found. Here's a hint to avoid having this happen to you:
When someone is banging on the door yelling "Metro Police, search warrant!!!" open your door and let them serve their warrant. Instead of opening the door, these two brilliant people decided to hide inside the apartment and then charge an officer when found inside a bathroom. The family will ALWAYS say their relative wasn't a criminal or was turning their life around.
As for the search warrant, when detectives get warrants like this, it's usually because they did a buy there earlier that day. Warrants don't take but 20 minutes to get.
I worked in LV for 3 months and reading about metro planting drugs on a black guy during a traffic stop and the guy lost his car to forfiture and was sentenced to prision, when more than one cop knew the drugs were planted, for "trianing " purposes, WTF and those cops scared the shine out of me, I never had any contact either, but I never went anywhere after work and got the hell out of LV. I could just imagine getting pulled over and having drugs planted on me and getting the same treatment. And they are not the judge ,jury but I guess you can call them the exiqutioner. And Paul bullbourgrurd, I'd love to reinact the civil war with you all
Many things with this shooting do not sit well on both sides of the story.
Firstly the Police are taking a huge chance if the bathroom door was locked. Small entryway and they must assume the suspect is armed so why go in? Sounds like a barricaded suspect to me which screams slow down not speed up.
Secondly why were the two people in the apartment not found hiding together? I don't know about anyone else but if someone was breaking into my apartment and I did not know if they were the Police, the last place you would find me is somewhere other than right next to me girlfriend and expected baby.
I have to say this sounds to me like the occupants knew exactly who was coming through the door, the man needed to get rid of some contraband or evidence he did not want the Police finding, hence the bathroom with a toilet, and the girlfriend felt safer somewhere other then near her boyfriend and probable focus of the warrant.
The coppers need to slow down and the occupants need to be honest. This would not be the first college football player to be arrested on felony charges so that dog don't hunt.
No winners here anyway you slice it.
This will only stop when blacks cops, start killing white people.
Why didn"t the Metro Police have a VIDEO CAMERA to show what happened at the shooting?
In the 30 years I have lived in LV I have never seen an inquest for an officer shooting someone anything other than JUSTIFIED..I live here because I enjoy gambling and I found out long ago that trying to live in this town until a ripe old age and dying of natural causes is the biggest gamble of all..good luck to all..
Notims, there have been cases of unjustified officer involved shootings in Las Vegas, and they are punished just like any other criminal. However, Not one of us were there at the time of this one, so let everyone do their job and let the truth come out.
Keep it up , boys!
Some day one of you are going to join O.J. in the joint, after the Fed's step in!!!
Since 1976 there have been 150 Fatal Shootings by POLICE.. and only ONE was found UNJUSTIFED..The other 149 FATAL SHOOTINGS BY POLICE WERE JUSTIFIED ..
Hey Janice, mostly I would agree with your wait until the truth comes out mantra...but Janice, the young man at the morgue cannot wait for it...we are rapidly becoming a police state, where what used to be considered bad behavior has become a criminal offense...mostly from some politician's arbitrary law...most 'criminals' are captured and prosecuted arbitrarily...too many 'arbitraries' for me, Janice...our prisons are full of young men who have enough problems and don't deserve to have 'felon' attached to them for the remainder of their lives...like me Janice, you should be more fearful of the police and the supposed criminal justice system than of a young man who uses or sells marijuana...much more fearful...
well, it is hard to be fearful of your family, which is what they are to me. Metro is family, I do know officer Yant as a person and I as much as I would like to say he is the right, I cant until I see everything before me. One thing you have to understand, "not everything is as it seems,and everything is always what it seems." What I mean is, You have to let your personal beliefs behind you and look at everything with clear mind, only then can you see what it truly is. I dont care if it was JUST marijuana. It is illegal. Maybe, Just maybe if people could get to these young men sooner you know.... as ...a .parent...You blame the police for enforcing the laws that YOU vote for. This isnt about most criminals, this is about a police officer that shot a person in the line of duty. The question is" was it justified?" I was not there and I dont believe you were either, we need to give that poilce officer the same chance in court as we do any other person. I believe in justice, that may make me stupid, but I am much happier not making judgments on other people.
usecoommonsense, what case was the unjustified? I was wondering about the drive by gang shooting that one officer did a while back. I believe that there was three officers involved in that one and they were found guilty. Please let me know.
Everyone is speaking so bad about the police and our justice system, do they need to be reminded that there are plenty of other states and countries to go live in, if they do not like it here. You love our freedom but hate our laws.... You must want your cake and eat it to. Metro like every police force in the world are judged by people that can not and will not do their job.
Janice..Why didn"t you say that police officer Yant SHOT 2 other People in the past 10 Years ??
Two other people are not the point, this case is in question. What if I were to say that this person had marijana in their house for two weeks one time last month???? Stay on the case at hand. Did you ever think that maybe this officer stays in high risk squads? Maybe he is good at it, he comes home alive! It is amazing how you do not want your criminal history brought before a jury but lets put up someone elses.
Police and their family are citizens as well. It is their community as much as it is yours. You dont want to apply their rights as in" innocent until proven guilty" but we should do it to everyone else... double standard?
lookdeeper?...honestly, please practice what is it you want your name to suggest...MikeT posted this yesterday in a space above...it bears repeating...this is what I INSIST is arbitrary and within the judgment of the police and is within the power of The State...
"As long as this country--its electorate, its political leaders--remains addicted to current drug laws, the police will have to enforce those laws. But where is it written that they must show up in the dead of night, armed and armored, in order to do so? What's wrong with reliable intelligence, expert surveillance, a traffic stop at three in the afternoon, a court-authorized search of an empty house?" Retired Seattle Police Chief, Norm Stamper
...I believe that this is the lesson that needs to be learned...no one denies that The State has the legal man-made right to secrure warrants, make arrests, and prosecute crimes...The State DOES NOT HAVE the moral right to take a life arbitrarily...
...please 'lookdeeper'...
And I am not saying that the officer did or did not do that, I am saying that we need to look at everything before we can claim to know the truth. I am saying that there is a chance that either or could have happened. Just because you or anyone wants to play judge and jury to a case that you do not have full knowleadge of, does not mean that everyone else has too.
looking deeper is about looking at everything not just the things we want to see.
You quote big words and it seems to make you feel smarter, which is great. But you still cant address the one most important fact "we do not know without a shadow of a doubt" that he is not justified, and we do not know without a shadow of a doubt that he is justified.
lookdeeper, check out Ronald Lawrence Mortensen and Christopher Brady. December 27-28, 1996 drive-by shooting. 2 of Metros best.
that was it, thanks. That case was not a inquest because they were off duty. However they were convicted and serving time. That was an awful thing, reguardless of who they were or what they had done.
JaniceE says:
"I dont care if it was JUST marijuana. It is illegal. Maybe, Just maybe if people could get to these young men sooner you know.... as ...a .parent...You blame the police for enforcing the laws that YOU vote for."
There was never a law voted on by the people that says we go into homes, guns blazing in the presence of pregnant women and unborn children.
I think most would be ok with it if there were hostages, but there wasn't any. Just a guy with no criminal record, his fiance and an unborn child.
Tell me why it's ok to bust down doors when it would be much safer for everyone involved to apprehend the guy when he's left his residence, at work or during a traffic stop. Then safely search the house. Explain that one to the fatherless child when he/she grows up.
You said you don't care if it was just marijuana. Laws must be enforced ... and violently, right? Considering many states and cities have decriminalized pot and nearly half the population supports legalizing it. I'd say there are plenty of us that find it unreasonable to be raiding unarmed pot smokers houses, terrorizing women and children and needlessly slaughtering pets, which has become all too common in pot raids. This time they actually killed a guy, pathetic. No one ever voted for this.
For truly professional police departments, knock and announce raids are the exception, not the rule. They are simply to dangerous to be abused.
I dont recall anyone saying that there were guns blazing, you must have been there.
The only person who put the unborn child and the mother in arms way, is the person who was breaking the law. He did not value any of his loved ones lives... sorry! I have kids, I pay my bills and I know that the police are not coming to kick my door down because there is no reason...Before you judge who is right and who was wrong you need to look at everything.
i am so glad i am Australian.
You yanks say your the land of the free, but i don't see it. what i see is a country in chaos, full of hatred and anger. you can't solve your internal wars, black v white v spanish, christian v christian, christian v muslim, neighbour v neighbour etc etc; so you made yourselves the 'world's sherriff' and stuff that up too.
You are ruled by the almighty dollar and call it god.
i for one will be pleased when you have blown each other to smithereens, maybe then we will find world peace.
either way i am truly free here down under :-)
lookdeeper says:
"The only person who put the unborn child and the mother in arms way, is the person who was breaking the law. He did not value any of his loved ones lives... sorry! I have kids, I pay my bills and I know that the police are not coming to kick my door down because there is no reason...Before you judge who is right and who was wrong you need to look at everything."
No, choosing to bust down a guys door over a bag of pot vs arresting him outside his residence put every ones lives in danger including the police, this case is a perfect example of it.
Sad fact is, because these raids have become so common, more and more homes are being mistakenly raided due to bad intelligence, false tips and wrong addresses. The link below maps out many of the botched raids in innocent peoples homes. Many times innocent children and the elderly have been mistakenly killed.
http://www.cato.org/raidmap/
Watch this video if you dare. It took place back in February. You'll hear SWAT killing a 7 year old child's puppy dressed in a pink sweater....yelp, yelp, yelp, all while the seven year old child and mother were present. They wound the puppy, he retreats to the kitchen, SWAT follows the pup in there and finishes him off. 7 shots were fired in the process they also shot another small Corgi dog in the paw. The police found a misdemeanor amount of pot ... pathetic. Their new police chief is reworking the whole department now, he's a good guy and understands that isn't the right way to enforce laws.
Columbia Mo SWAT Raid 2/11/2010. Cops Shoot Pets With Children Present
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbwSwvUaR...
Most cops go their entire careers without firing their service revolver in the line of duty.
In 8 years, this guy has done it 3 times.
What are the odds?
I have known Trevone since he was 10 years old. Trevon was a good kid who stayed out of trouble and made people laugh. He always had a smile on his face. Even in his young adulthood he stayed away from trouble. He was not a drug dealer. I have known Trevone's mother for 12 years. She resided him well! He did not come from a disturbed home as some people here are implying. she did a good job raising Trevone. Trevone had NO criminal record! Not one, never went to juvi or anything like that! Where are the surveillance pictures that Trevone was selling drugs??? Where are they?? This was not the case of another drug dealer taken off the streets! This is the case of a young man who's life has been horribly robbed from him leaving his daughter fatherless and his mother and 16 year old brother heart broken! All the years she has taken to love and nourish Trevone to be the good citizen that he was all ended in one shot! This officer has killed two other people in the past and one other escaped death. He has robbed a hard working young man of his future and a chance to see his first child! Trevone did not have to die! Stop killing our kids!
The ignorance of of the ill-informed is saddening... The fact is the police broken into the wrong mans home and are now trying to justify the murder of another unarmed black man who's only crime was trying to protect his soon to be family. Pierre??? if you are believing that every accused black man is a drug dealing scum bag and that the police NEVER make mistakes (like the 4 yr's old girl in Detroit that was shot in the neck by police, you are someone with issues far beyond this article