Hearing recounts 2014 Metro shooting of mentally ill man
In an hour-and-a-half, a life marked by struggles with mental illness and problems in the criminal justice system came to an end April 29, 2014, in a hail of Las Vegas police gunfire.
Herbert Green, 46, had called 911 himself that day. He said his family had stolen his lottery winnings. But he had not won the lottery, police would later learn.
Green’s death was reviewed Friday in a public fact-finding hearing, part of a process for officer-involved shootings. The process is meant to lay out the facts in killings in which police are not likely to face criminal charges.
Judge Bill Jensen said Friday that a criminal investigation should not be necessary in Green’s death.
In a recording played at the hearing, Green calmly tells a 911 dispatcher, “I’m getting ready to be shot,” then hangs up. A return call from the dispatcher was answered after two rings, then immediately disconnected.
He placed the call at 2:04 p.m. from his mother’s home in the 5300 block of Palm Street, near the intersection of Russell Road and Mountain Vista Street. Officers who responded were told not to make contact with Green, but to set up a perimeter instead, Metro Detective Craig Jex, a member of the department’s Force Investigation Team, said during the hearing.
Minutes later, police talked to Green’s mother, who told them there were guns in the house, Jex said. Green overheard the conversation from inside and started looking for weapons. At 2:15 p.m., he came outside showed police his empty pockets and hands, then walked back into the house, Jex said. Police moved closer to the house.
But he came back outside at 3:46 p.m., Jex said. This time, Green was armed with a handgun. He fired five rounds from his Ruger LCR, a .38 special, at “practically point blank,” Jex said. He fired one of the shots just a few feet from officer Brooke Lavin’s head.
Lavin and officers Michael Henry, Banjamin Baldassarre and Chad Cruse returned fire. Green collapsed.
“The whole shooting took place in about ten seconds,” Jex said.
Green was taken to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, where he died. Lavin was briefly hospitalized with hearing loss. Police canvased the neighborhood for witnesses, Jex said, but most of the residents had been evacuated or ordered to shelter in place.
A toxicology report from the Clark County coroner’s office indicated Green had amphetamines and methamphetamine in his system at the time of the shooting. His mother had told police her son had paranoid schizophrenia.
Green had been convicted of seven felonies and had arrests on battery, DUI and child abuse charges shortly before his death, police said.
Contact Kimberly De La Cruz at kdelacruz@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Find her on Twitter:@KimberlyinLV.