Las Vegas police reveal details in fatal shooting of man
Las Vegas police shared new details Thursday from an officer-involved fatal shooting of a knife-wielding man on Monday.
The shooting was the third involving the Metropolitan Police Department in a 48-hour span. The Thursday news conference came hours after a Metro sergeant fatally shot a man who was stabbing a woman Wednesday night, marking the fourth police shooting since Saturday.
“In my 28-plus years here, I don’t recall us having this many (officer-involved shootings) in such a short period of time,” Clark County Assistant Sheriff Tim Kelly told reporters. “It’s unfortunate, but when you have individuals out there that are trying to cause harm, as a police agency it’s our job to take action to mitigate that threat.”
On Monday, officer Dave Stockton, 44, fired twice at Spurgeon Daniels, 62, after police twice used a stun gun to no avail, Kelly said. Daniels died at University Medical Center.
Metro responded on a welfare-check call about 12:40 p.m. to an apartment complex at 2200 W. Bonanza Road. The security officer at Kensington Suites who called police reported that Daniels had made vague threats to harm himself and others, was seen running around the complex naked that day and had flooded his apartment.
“The person reporting told dispatch he was afraid something bad may have happened to Daniels because he was not answering the door,” Kelly said.
Police heard Daniels inside of the apartment but he wouldn’t answer the door. They entered the apartment at 12:55 p.m.
Stockton’s body-worn camera footage, played at the briefing, showed Daniels with no pants on and standing next to the kitchen counter, making incoherent statements and holding his right hand behind his back.
He approached officers from the kitchen and Stockton tried to deploy his stun gun, which malfunctioned. A sergeant handed Stockton his stun gun and Stockton used it on Daniels, who ignored officer commands.
Daniels briefly slumped over a table before he started swinging a knife, cutting one officer on the hand.
Officers retreated to the apartment building landing, where another officer deployed a stun gun, prompting Daniels to again swing the knife and lunge at Stockton. Stockton then fired twice.
Had Daniels survived, Kelly said, he would have faced charges of battery with a deadly weapon and assault with a deadly weapon on a protected person.
The two stun guns that did deploy didn’t stop Daniels, the assistant sheriff said.
“If (neuromuscular incapacitation) had occurred, the individual would’ve locked up and would’ve been unable to move,” Kelly said.
Police were investigating whether Daniels had a history of mental health issues, Kelly said.
The officer injured by the knife was treated and released from a hospital.
The shooting marked the department’s 13th of the year and the third in a 48-hour stretch that began about 1:15 p.m. Saturday when two officers fatally shot a man after an hourslong barricade. Later that night, an officer returned fire at a man who had shot at officers. That man was found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Contact Mike Shoro at mshoro@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290. Follow @mike_shoro on Twitter.
