North Las Vegas police officer fatally shoots man at park

A North Las Vegas police officer on Monday shot and killed a man who had threatened to shoot himself after he walked toward police “with his gun raised,” officials said Tuesday.

Officers were called just before 4 p.m. Monday to Craig Ranch Regional Park, 628 W. Craig Road, after a report of a man with a gunshot wound, the North Las Vegas Police Department said Tuesday. But when police arrived, the man “pulled out a gun and threatened” to kill himself.

The man who was later shot by police had waved someone down and asked them to call 911, saying that he had shot himself, police spokesman Alex Cuevas said Tuesday afternoon. It was unclear how injured the man was before police arrived.

Negotiators spoke with the man for several hours, at one point using a “police robot” to give him water “to encourage him to surrender.” Cuevas said the man was in the northwest portion of the park, in an open area.

The department said the man “never put down his gun.”

“Eventually, the man stopped communicating with officers and approached them with his gun raised,” the department said.

One officer then shot the man. Cuevas said the shooting happened after 7:30 p.m., about 3½ hours after the 911 call.

Police said the man was taken to University Medical Center, where he died.

The department did not publicize the shooting on Monday, and it was unclear Tuesday if the officers were wearing body cameras.

No officers were injured. The department said the officer who shot the man will be identified within 72 hours of the shooting.

The officer was placed on routine paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-2040. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.