Las Vegas police say man shot by officer had ‘replica firearm’

The man shot by a Las Vegas police officer in the south valley Monday night had a “replica firearm,” Metropolitan Police Department Sgt. Jeff Clark said.

Metro responded to reports of a man sitting on a wall and pointing a gun at passing cars at Haven Street and Struzzo Avenue near the M Resort about 8 p.m. Officers found the man standing on a residential driveway down the street at La Padani Avenue and Stivali Street and immediately tried to talk with him, police said.

Officers gave several commands in English and Spanish for the man to drop his gun, but he did not comply.

“The man did not drop the gun, and eventually started to lift it in the direction of one of the officers on the scene,” police wrote in a release Tuesday afternoon.

An officer fired a single shot at the suspect striking him in the shoulder, Clark said.

William Vanderkilk, who lives close to the shooting location, said he heard the gunshot — “a loud firecracker pop.”

The suspect was taken into custody and transported to University Medical Center where he was in stable condition and treated for a nonlife-threatening injury, police said.

A neighbor observed the suspect sitting on a utility box in front of his home, quietly talking to himself just before police arrived.

“He pulled a gun out of his backpack, checked it and put it in his waistband,” said the 27-year-old man, who declined to give his name.

“The gun was later determined to be a plastic replica gun,” police wrote in the release. Metro spokeswoman Laura Meltzer could not elaborate on the specifics of the firearm Tuesday morning.

No one else was injured in this incident.

This is the third police shooting in Metro’s jurisdiction this year, the department said. Metro will release the name of the involved officer 48 hours after the incident.

Reporters Rachel Crosby and Kimber Laux contributed to this story. Contact Lawren Linehan at llinehan@reviewjournal.com or at 702-383-0381. Find her on Twitter: @lawrenlinehan. Contact Rachel Crosby at rcrosby@reviewjournal.comor 702-387-5290. Find her on Twitter: @rachelacrosby