Metro: Man shot by off-duty officer attempted to carjack cop’s personal car

The man a Metropolitan Police Department officer shot while off-duty in the east valley last week had been previously convicted of stealing vehicles and appeared as if he was going to "attempt to carjack" the officer's car at gunpoint seconds before being shot, Metro said during a press conference Monday.

Gilberto Gutierrez, 35, was treated at University Medical Center after the shooting and booked at the Clark County Detention Center on a series of felony charges including grand larceny of an automobile and assault and battery on a protected person with a deadly weapon. He is being held on $77,000 bail.

Gutierrez was already sentenced to spend a year in jail, starting Feb. 11, for "chop-shop related charges," Undersheriff Kevin McMahill said at the press conference. The new charges he faces could affect that sentence, he said.

Metro on Monday detailed the timeline of the shooting, which happened Jan. 26 on Asbury Hill Avenue, near the intersection of Pecos and Bonanza roads.

Before Gutierrez was on Metro's radar that day, he was caught on a home surveillance camera ditching a Honda CRV he'd stolen. He then stole a 1997 Honda Civic, parked in a man's east valley driveway.

"While he attempted to steal that vehicle, the owner of the house heard the commotion in his driveway, heard his Honda Civic start, and he immediately ran outside and confronted Gutierrez," McMahill said. When confronted, Gutierrez pulled a gun on the car's owner and then drove away.

"The victim in that particular case tried to jump on the back of his vehicle as it was driving off with Gutierrez at the wheel," McMahill said. "He fell off as the car continued."

A witness followed the stolen vehicle, relaying Gutierrez's location to dispatch as Metro's air unit searched for him. The helicopter kept tabs on Gutierrez as he headed southbound on Pecos — at one point in the northbound lanes, McMahill said.

Officers deployed "stop sticks" near Pecos and Owens Avenue, which "took out one of the front tires of the vehicle." Gutierrez eventually crashed at Pecos and Bonanza and ditched his car.

The officer who shot Gutierrez was not wearing a body camera, but Metro played radio conversations that detailed what led up to the shooting.

"We're gonna get him. He's gonna bail here any second," the recording said. "He bailed," it continued.

Gutierrez then ran south, hopping a wall into the Asbury Hill neighborhood, according to the recording. He had a gun in his right hand, one officer yelled, "(Gun) in right hand!"

The gun Gutierrez was armed with may have been stolen, Metro said. He faces a charge for scratching its serial number off.

The officer who ultimately shot Gutierrez, Samuel Solorio, 39, was off-duty but still in uniform, equipped with a personal radio and driving home from work in his personal vehicle, McMahill said. Solorio saw a lone traffic officer on a motorcycle turn onto Asbury Hill and decided to join in on the call.

Solorio "did not believe the traffic officer had any backup," McMahill said. "And so he decided to assist that officer himself, which it sounds like that was a good decision at this point."

Though units were on the way to back up the motorcycle cop, "there wasn't an immediate unit to assist him."

McMahill said Gutierrez stepped from between the two houses with his hands extended, holding the gun in a firing position and pointing it at the motorcycle officer.

Solorio then accelerated towards Gutierrez, who then walked toward Solorio's car and turned the gun on him.

"It appeared as if Gutierrez was going to attempt to carjack officer Solorio, and officer Solorio, fearing for his own life, fired three rounds from his duty weapon," McMahill said.

Two rounds went through Solorio's windshield, striking Gutierrez in his left arm and left side. The injuries were non-life-threatening.

It is unclear whether words were exchanged between Solorio and Gutierrez.

"What we encourage our officers to do is to be good witnesses when they're in an off-duty environment, particularly if they were in plain clothes or in their own vehicle — we don't want them going out and participating," McMahill said. "But this situation's a little bit different in the sense that he just got off of work, he was wearing his uniform and he was observing this happening directly in front of him."

He added both officers "performed very well."

Solorio has been on the force for 17½ years and was placed on routine paid administrative leave pending the investigation.

Before last week's shooting, Solorio had fired his weapon in three other officer-involved shootings, killing one person and injuring two others. He was exonerated for all three.

Contact Rachel Crosby at rcrosby@reviewjournal.com or at 702-387-5290. Find her on Twitter: @rachelacrosby