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Metro Police investigate after officers fatally shot 23-year-old Rafael Alonso Olivas on July 14, 2011, in the western Las Vegas Valley.
Saturday, July 16, 2011 | 8:57 a.m.
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Metro Police identified two officers Saturday who fatally shot a 23-year-old man armed with a butcher knife Thursday morning in a western Las Vegas Valley neighborhood.
The officers were identified as Christopher Grivas, 30, and David Hager, 33. Both have been with Metro since June 2005 and both are assigned to the Patrol Division in Metro's Northwest Area Command.
Police responded at 6:46 a.m. Thursday to the report of a domestic disturbance in the 7700 block of 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.
Police arrived and found the man, identified as Rafael Olivas, 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 discharged non-lethal rounds at Olivas, striking him four times, but he continued toward officers with the knife, police said. Officers then fired multiple gunshots at the man after Neville said officers feared for their lives. Olivas was pronounced dead at University Medical Center.
Neville reported at the scene of the incident Thursday that three officers fired their weapons, but police on Saturday said there were two officers involved in the shooting.
The officers were placed on paid administrative leave, which is standard procedure in cases of officer-involved shootings.
What else is new?
OK, finally I read about a police shooting that sounds proper and justified. The suspect was armed with a deadly weapon. He ignored verbal commands. Non-leathal force was tried. The suspect continued to advance on the officers in a threatening manner. And then he was shot. That's the way it's supposed to go down. It looks to me as if these officers did their job the right way. I'm glad they came out of this unharmed and I thank them for their service.
and all of this can be verified how?
i bet that mother wishes she never called the police now.
"Signs posted on the flightline state "Deadly Force Authorized" 33 years of working the line around the world, I've never seen/heard of anyone getting shot. Maybe we can post some of these signs around the valley?"
I know what a "flightline" is - what does that have to do with Metro shooting an armed suspect? Two totally different scenarios.
(And yes - deadly force WILL be used on the line IF you are dumb enough to provoke the guys holding those weapons. I was on an "unauthorized tour" of the flightline once at Nellis, in the evening when it was dark out. I was instructed under NO circumstances be visible in the truck OR stick my head out the window or else it will only take a few seconds for someone to appear out of nowhere with a gun pointed at my head. Yeah - I listened.)
One of my coworkers knew this young man well. She was weeping at her desk when this hit the news.
From her perspective, he wasn't a bad person at all. No drugs. No violence. No gangs. It definitely sounds like suicide by cop to me.
People, unless your life is in immediate danger, please don't call the police. The cops here are not social workers- they are more like soldiers. Every time you engage with Metro in a tense situation, there is a chance someone will be shot. The less contact you have with law enforcement, the better.
You don't walk or run at a cop with a butcher knife. Emotionally disturbed or not, you leave little choice for the cop. I have no issues whatsoever with what transpired. Sounds like they did their job. People have to start taking responsibility for their own actions.
What on earth is driving him to the point
#1 grabbing a butcher knife
#2 leaving the house wielding it
#3 confronting police and ignoring commands
#4 shot with non lethal means and still proceeding
This wasn't one action that got him killed. This was a series of stupid moves that got him killed.
The story in Thursday's paper quoted the Rafael Olivas' cousin as saying, "My cousin wanted to die." He knew how to accomplish that end. I've been as harsh a critic of the LVMPD as anyone over the Erik Scott and Trevon Cole killings, even going so far as to write letters to the local FBI office, the local U. S. Attorney's office and the U. S. Attorney General's office asking for an investigation of the police department's use of lethal force policies and the implementation of that policy. In this case, it seems as if the officers involved had no other options other than to fire their weapons.
It's a shame really... a 23 year old, angry or depressed? No indication that he was a criminal or a so called 'dirt bag' type. Suicide by cop? Maybe... but still now another young man is dead and two cops have to live with the fact that they killed him. Got to be hard on them too. Either that or they're just cold blooded killers who don't care and I don't believe that. Just seems like there ought to be another way.
It is time that officials DEMAND these trigger happy cops get some training. All cities have criminals but their cops don't seem to kill people as fast and as regular as Metro does. We just might hold some kind of record of having more cops on paid leave than on active duty for these shootings.
Come on, people, a man with a knife against half of Metro? And their solution (as always) is to shoot to kill him?!! What ever happened to those expensive Taser Guns the taxpayers bought and why aren't they being used?
Knives should be outlawed.
You come at me with a knife, I am going to shoot you and not in the leg. I am not going to try to disarm you either.
Don't ask to get shot and chances are you won't get shot.
I am not a cop but I don't bring a knife to a gun fight either.
None of us were at this shooting and don't have a clue what happened. I am not in a place to blame the police for shooting someone with a knife and I don't believe any other poster here can honestly blame then when you don't know the facts.
Really is to bad that some feel the need to hate just to hate.
they shot him 4 times with non-lethal means, probably bean bag shot gun shells and he still kept coming. Cousin stated he wanted to die, metro fufilled his wishes.Simple logic come at police with a weapon you will die. Probably saved the taxpayers alot of money on a public defender for somone who obviously could not be part of a civilized society. Thank you metro for putting it on the line everyday for law abiding citizens.
Don't cause any problems and the cops will stay out of your sight. Trashy people abounds in our valley. Goodluck to everyone and the cops trying to keep OUR COMMUNITY SAFE!!!!
@nevadapatriot really? could you maybe be more insensitive? And again, how do we know Metro shot anything but bullets? where is the proof, their word? An agency with a long history of lying?
Only a gullible moron would buy a word from this ridiculous Police Agency unverified.
I agree with many on here, NEVER under any circumstances call Metro. These people do not do a shred of anything but harass and kill citizens. If they are ever called on their nonsense, they lie. Waste of money.
People like stephenrblv should be required to wear a sign on their back stating that they won't let Metro protect them if you want to rob or kill them.
Metro doesn't do a thing to protect anybody but themselves and their money machine.
Metro breeds crime. It is good business too. More money, more cops, more new cop stations, cars, helicopters, swat teams, K9 dogs, you name it. If they were doing their job they would be reducing in size, not expanding. This alone you would wake people like dinusmagee is the sacn afoot, nope.
Metro is so loved we have entire segments of the population who would rather remain silent with evidence than deal with these people. Who can really blame them?
Stephen and Brenda
I believe that Metro is planning on dealing with your concerns by starting a program in our valley schools to educate you so you understand voice commands when given be Metro officers.
i.e. Drop the knife or gun means that you open your fingers and allow your weapon to fall to the ground not continue to menace the officers or public.
The biggest problem facing Metro is that a large precentage of valley residents are dropouts or don't speak english so I guess that they will have to start the lessons both in Mexico and Central America plus preschools in the valley.
Obey the jack booted Metro SS officers commands or die, right pmart? I can't believe a Las Vegas Metro police officer would shoot a man armed with a knife, it just seems so heavy-handed...oh wait, I forgot, he didn't obey. those officers feared for their lives. Yeah better off just killing the guy and take a vacation. I hear the Grand Canyon is nice this time of year...