Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

LAW ENFORCEMENT:

Metro officers fatally shoot man, 23, armed with knife

Officers feared for their lives,’ police spokesman says

Officer-involved shooting

Jackie Valley

Metro Police investigate after officers fatally shot 23-year-old Rafael Alonso Olivas on July 14, 2011, in the western Las Vegas Valley.

Updated Thursday, July 14, 2011 | 10:39 a.m.

Map

Three Metro Police officers fatally shot a 23-year-old man wielding a butcher knife Thursday morning in a western Las Vegas Valley neighborhood.

Police responded at 6:46 a.m. to the report of a domestic disturbance on Musical Lane near the intersection of Firestone Drive and Westcliff Drive. That location is southwest of the Buffalo Drive and Summerlin Parkway interchange.

Metro Police Capt. Patrick Neville said a woman reported she was having an argument with her son and that he was out of control.

Police arrived and found a man with a butcher knife walking southbound on Firestone Drive. Neville said the man approached officers after authorities made several commands for him to stop.

The officers then discharged non-lethal rounds at the man, striking him four times, in an attempt to get him to stop, but the man continued toward officers with the knife, Neville said.

"Officers feared for their lives," he said.

The three officers then fired multiple shots at the man, who was pronounced dead at University Medical Center. Neville said he didn't know how close the officers were to the man when they opened fire.

Victor Chavez, the man's cousin, identified the man who was killed as Rafael Olivas.

Chavez, 21, described his cousin’s relationship with his mother as fairly typical, with arguments only once in a while.

“I still can’t believe it,” he said. “It hasn’t set in.”

Chavez said one of the last times he saw Olivas — known as “Ralfy” to relatives — was during a party for a younger family member. Olivas lived with his mother and has several siblings, he said.

Police said the mother wasn't injured during the argument with her son. It wasn’t immediately clear whether other family members were home at the time or what led to the argument.

“All I heard was he had a knife,” said Chavez, who rushed to join family at the scene after the shooting. “That’s no reason to be shot four times.”

The three officers involved were placed on paid administrative leave, which is standard procedure for officer-involved shootings. Their names will be released in 48 hours.

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