Las Vegas police believe accidental shooting caused woman’s death

Las Vegas homicide detectives believe a woman fatally shot Wednesday night at an east valley apartment complex was accidentally killed, police said.

Metropolitan Police Department officers responded to a report of a shooting about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday in the 600 block of McKnight Street, near Bonanza Road and 28th Street, Lt. David Gordon said.

Homicide Lt. Ray Spencer said Thursday that when police arrived, they found a woman with a fatal gunshot wound to her upper torso. A man at the apartment said that the two were on a patio looking at his gun when it fell from their hands.

Spencer said the man told police that he and the woman both grabbed for the gun when it fell, and it accidentally went off, striking the woman.

He said the man was “extremely cooperative” while being interviewed, and forensic evidence at the scene is consistent with an accidental shooting.

The case will be submitted to the Clark County district attorney’s office for review.

The Clark County coroner’s office had not identified the woman as of Thursday morning.

Contact Glenn Puit by email at gpuit@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter. Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.