Man dies in shooting involving U.S. marshals

A U.S. marshal fatally shot a 27-year-old man wanted in Arizona after a short vehicle chase in a high-traffic area of the north valley Wednesday afternoon, a North Las Vegas police spokeswoman said.

The identities of the man who was killed and the marshal who shot him were not released.

Police spokeswoman Chrissie Coon said the marshal was part of a multijurisdictional fugitive task force that was attempting to arrest the man for two felony parole violations in the neighboring Grand Canyon State.

Coon said the task force was involved in a vehicle pursuit with the suspect, who was in a car with two women.

She said the short chase ended about 3 p.m. when the suspect's vehicle either crashed or stopped at the intersection of Martin Luther King Boulevard and Cheyenne Avenue.

That's when the man got out and began running. That is also when the marshal drew the weapon.

"All we can confirm now is that the suspect was armed during the time of the shooting," Coon said late Wednesday.

She said she did not know whether the man had reached for his handgun or was holding it when the marshal shot him.

Coon said she did not know how many times the marshal fired. She added that the marshal was the only one to do so.

Coon said it was lucky that bystanders were not harmed during the car chase, noting that the likelihood of someone dying or suffering serious injury was high.

She said the two women in the suspect's vehicle, one of whom was the driver, were being arrested Wednesday night. The driver faces multiple traffic violations, Coon said. The women's names were not released.

Coon said that before the shooting, the suspect vehicle hit another vehicle but didn't stop and continued to lead law enforcement on the chase.

Coon did not know late Wednesday if the marshal involved would be placed on paid administrative leave, as is policy for local police agencies. She directed those questions to the U.S. Marshals Service. A representative of the agency could not be reached Wednesday night.

North Las Vegas police is the investigating department in the shooting.

The agencies on the task force include the marshals, Las Vegas police and personnel with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Wednesday's shooting was not the first time marshals have been involved in a high-profile local shooting.

In January 2010, marshals and other law enforcement officers killed Johnny Lee Wicks after Wicks walked into the federal courthouse downtown and killed 72-year-old Stan Cooper, a security guard.

Wicks entered the courthouse about 8 a.m. and unloaded the shotgun he had hidden under a black coat. A 48-year-old deputy marshal was also shot in the arm.

Wicks died across the street from the courthouse on Las Vegas Boulevard, South, when several marshals and court security officers returned fire in the gunfight.

In 2008, Wicks had filed a federal race discrimination complaint against a regional commissioner with the Social Security Division. Wicks' complaint stemmed from an encounter he had with the regional commissioner at the social security office after learning his monthly check would be reduced.

The FBI was involved in a local shooting last month.

A federal agent killed a murder suspect Aug. 2.

The suspect was shot at Arizona Charlie's, a hotel-casino on Boulder Highway.

The man, identified as Joshua Durchell in court records but who also was called Joshua Burchell by the Clark County coroner's office and Jerome Burchell by the FBI, was shot while authorities were trying to arrest him for a robbery that occurred May 31, 2011, at a local fast food store. Durchell was also a suspect in the investigation of a murder that occurred July 22, police said.

The agent who shot Durchell was working with the multi-agency Criminal Apprehension Team, a group of local and federal officers in Southern Nevada that helps detectives arrest suspects in serious crimes.

The FBI said Durchell, 35, ignored an agent's repeated commands and brandished a weapon before he was shot and fatally wounded.

Police had considered Durchell a suspect in the July 22 slaying of 38-year-old Esteban Meza Jr.

Meza's body was discovered July 22 at the Shelter Cove apartment complex at 2683 Decatur Blvd., near Sahara Avenue. A person who went to pick Meza up for church found him dead in his apartment, police said.

The warrant FBI agents were serving on Durchell came from the 2011 robbery of a Las Vegas Quiznos.

Contact reporter Antonio Planas at aplanas@review journal.com or 702-383-4638.