Metro Police officers salute as a procession with the body of a slain police dog leaves the scene near an officer-involved shooting Thursday, March 31, 2016, in the northwest valley. Two people are reported dead and a suspect was shot and is in custody, police said.
Published Thursday, March 31, 2016 | 12:38 p.m.
Updated Thursday, March 31, 2016 | 8:30 p.m.
Two people and a police dog are dead and an armed assailant was wounded by police in a residential neighborhood in the northwest valley, Metro Police said.
Officers responded about 11:45 a.m. to the 9800 block of Fast Elk Street, near El Capitan Way and Iron Mountain Road, to investigate calls of a man armed with a handgun walking down the street and firing shots, Capt. Shawn Andersen said. Callers also reported that two people might have been injured inside a residence.
Arriving officers confronted the armed man in the street, where they ordered him to drop his weapon. While a Metro K-9 was brought in, gunfire rang out between officers and the suspect. The dog was struck and died on scene.
The gunman was hit and taken to University Medical Center, where he was in unknown condition, police said.
Police then went to the home the suspect reportedly emerged from and located a man and woman dead from apparent gunshot wounds.
Police were investigating the relationship between the gunman and the two victims, Andersen said.
Names weren't immediately made public.
The four officers involved in the shooting weren't injured. They were placed on paid leave pending departmental reviews, Andersen said.
The dog, a Belgian Malinois named Nicky, was the same K-9 stabbed last month after police responded to a disturbance call at an apartment near Maryland Parkway and Desert Inn Road, police said.
“With heavy hearts we regret to confirm that LVMPD K-9 Nicky was killed in the line of duty today,” Metro said via Twitter.
Nicky was stabbed a number of times during last month’s incident but returned to duty after undergoing surgery.
Brandon Collins said he was driving through the neighborhood with family and friends when a man pointed a gun at them.
Joel Jarvis, who lives in the neighborhood, said he saw several police cars and heard three shots about a minute later.
Brandon Dorsey heard about the shooting when his wife called him to inform him of gunshots and screams a few houses down from theirs. She hid in a closet, he said.
He said he and his family, which includes four children, moved into the neighborhood about a month ago.
Dorsey described the community as peaceful, with kids always on the street playing. "I'm grateful that it happened on a school day," he said.
About 3:30 p.m., parents and children with backpacks were seen marching down the street on their way back from school.
Shortly before 4 p.m. Metro vehicles formed a small procession and officers lined up and saluted as the caravan drove away.
This is the fourth officer-involved shooting in Metro's jurisdiction this year.
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