District attorney review finds two officer-involved shootings justifiable

By Gregan Wingert

Thursday, April 19, 2012 | 6:46 p.m.

Law enforcement officers acted reasonably and lawfully in two fatal officer-involved shootings in 2010, the Clark County district attorney’s office has determined.

The district attorney’s office reviewed the Aug. 25, 2010, arrest of Eduardo Lopez-Hernandez, who died on U.S. 95 near Boulder Highway, and the Nov. 15, 2010, shooting of Anthony Brenes, who refused to drop his weapon and surrender to police outside a convenience store, according to the report.

“In both instances the police were confronted with aggressive suspects who ignored clear commands from the officers and resisted efforts to resolve the incidents quickly and without the use of force,” District Attorney Steven Wolfson said in a news release.

Wolfson plans for his office to review all 18 officer-involved deaths that are awaiting a hearing in the long-delayed coroner’s inquest process, according to the release. Reviews will be conducted in chronological order and will not replace the coroner’s inquest.

In the release, Wolfson said the reviews would give information to the public much faster than an inquest.

The last coroner’s inquest was in September 2010; a coroner’s inquest into the Lopez-Hernandez case is expected to restart under revised rules on May 3.

According to the district attorney’s reviews, both Lopez-Hernandez and Brenes had threatened public safety.

Nevada Highway Patrol troopers used Tasers on Lopez-Hernandez after he started fighting with civilians and authorities, the report says. Troopers tried to subdue him with the Tasers to handcuff him, the report said.

During the struggle troopers noticed Lopez-Hernandez had stopped breathing, the report said. Efforts to revive him were unsuccessful.

In the Brenes case, Metro Police were called to a convenience store parking lot on East Desert Inn Road where there was reports of a man fighting with his girlfriend.

Police and witnesses said Brenes was wielding a large stick, which he refused to drop, the report said.

When Brenes started threatening police and moving toward them, officers used Tasers and bean bag rounds before resorting to lethal force, the report said.

Reviews of these two cases and future reviews will be available on the district attorney’s website.