Review finds police did not attempt to use non-lethal force before fatal shooting
Las Vegas police officers involved in the New Year’s Eve shooting of an unarmed man did not attempt to use non-lethal force to subdue him before they opened fire, according to a public fact-finding review held Monday.
The county holds reviews whenever the district attorney’s office determines that officers involved in police shootings will not be prosecuted.
Keith Childress, Jr., 23, was killed by Metropolitan police Sgt. Robert Bohanon and officer Blake Walford on Dec. 31 after they mistook his cellphone for a gun, Metro detective Craig Jex said Monday.
Bohanon and Walford were both wearing body cameras during the shooting, but only Bohanon’s had been turned on, Jex said. It wasn’t clear why Waldorf’s camera wasn’t on.
Both officers had tasers but their maximum range is 25 feet, and Childress was 45 feet away when he was shot, Jex said.
Officer James Ledogar and a police dog were also at the scene, but the dog was’t deployed until after Childress had been shot. Jex said Ledogar released the dog while approaching Childress, but didn’t offer further details.
An arrest warrant for Childress was issued in Arizona in December after he did not appear in court for sentencing in connection with a 2013 home invasion, Jex said.
Two deputy U.S. marshals pursuing Childress discovered that he was visiting a relative in Las Vegas. After a two-day stakeout, Childress left the apartment on New Year’s Eve and marshals moved in to confront and apprehend him.
Childress ran, and the marshals called in Las Vegas police for assistance, and told dispatchers Childress was wanted for attempted murder. A gun found in the relative’s car led officers to believe Childress might be armed.
Childress was wanted on several charges, including robbery, assault and kidnapping, but not attempted murder, authorities said.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Giancarlo Pesci, representing the district attorney’s office in the review, said that the information Metro received “wasn’t specifically accurate.” The gun in the car was registered to Childress’s relative.
When Childress was found in a neighborhood near Desert Breeze Park, officers saw his cellphone in his right hand, which was in his right front pocket, and mistook it for a gun, Jex said.
In the body camera footage, officers can be heard commanding Childress a total of 24 times to “Surrender,” “Drop the gun,” and “Get on the ground.” Bohanon can be heard saying, “If you advance at us, you will be shot.”
When Childress began walking toward officers, Bohanon fired four rounds, and Walford fired five, Jex said. Childress was hit five times, in his chest and left wrist. Toxicology tests performed by the coroner showed that Childress was not intoxicated at the time of the shooting.
“Officers are trained to shoot to stop a threat. Those two officers determined the threat continued, and they continued until the threat was stopped,” Jex said.
The names of the deputy U.S. marshals who witnessed the shooting were not released, though the marshals did not fire any shots. A spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service said concealing the names of marshals involved in shootings is “a matter of policy.”
The review was an emotional experience for Childress’ family, who was present at the review but left quickly after.
His mother began crying when radio traffic from the shooting was played, and screamed when the body camera footage showed Childress being shot.
Bonahan and Walford were placed on administrative leave after the shooting, but as of Monday it was unclear if they had returned to work.
Contact Max Michor at mmichor@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Find @MaxMichor on Twitter.
