Henderson police release video of burglary suspect’s shooting

Newly released video shows Henderson police pursuing and shooting an armed burglary suspect last month at a Henderson storage facility.

Officer Eduardo Vega shot Joshua Watkins, 37, at the Life Storage facility, 1011 Stufflebeam Ave., on Jan. 11 at 8:50 p.m. Henderson police Deputy Chief Michael Denning said Watkins was under surveillance for property crimes when police surrounded him at the business near Galleria Drive.

Video and audio recordings released Wednesday by police shows Watkins driving in reverse through the storage shed as police approach.

“He’s driving reverse southbound,” an officer is heard saying. “Watch the incoming units. He’s 410 (reckless).”

“He’s going toward you guys. Toward you guys,” another officer is heard saying.

“Watch your crossfire,” an officer says, noting Watkins is armed.

“Shots fired,” an officer says moments later.

Police said Vega shot Watkins once in the leg. Watkins survived the shooting.

The video shows Watkins jumping onto a police vehicle with a canine officer inside, police said, prompting the shooting. A weapon believed to be Watkins’ was found on the rooftop of an adjacent storage unit, police said.

“The canine officer, who was still inside of his vehicle, also observed Watkins approaching him with a firearm in his right hand,” Denning said. “As Watkins began to jump on the front of the canine officer’s vehicle, one of the patrol officers pursuing Watkins on foot fired one round from his department-issued duty weapon, striking Watkins in the right leg.”

Watkins now faces felony charges of assault on a protected person with a deadly weapon and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Police said they are continuing to investigate the shooting. The results of the investigation will be forwarded to the chief of police for review.

Contact Glenn Puit by email at gpuit@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter.