Las Vegas police investigating officer-involved shooting

A Las Vegas police officer shot a man after police were told he had a firearm inside a central valley business Friday afternoon.

The man was taken to University Medical Center in critical condition.

Metropolitan Police Department Capt. Kelly McMahill said the man was shot twice about 12:45 p.m. near the Decatur Shopping Center, 1401 N. Decatur Blvd., near West Washington Avenue. The man was in surgery Friday afternoon, and no additional information on his condition was immediately available.

The incident began when people inside a store in the strip mall saw that the man was holding a gun. A customer saw an officer nearby and flagged him down, McMahill said.

The officer made his way to the area in back of the store, where the man was lying on the ground. The man abruptly sat up as the officer approached, and the officer saw he was holding a gun, McMahill said.

The man was shot twice by the officer, and Metro recovered a knife and a handgun at the scene.

The department is expected to name the officer who fired the shots after 48 hours and will hold a briefing on the shooting next week, as is department policy.

Frederick Smith, 48, who runs a business in an adjacent lot on Decatur, said he was startled by four gunshots as he was parking his car and saw someone being loaded into an ambulance. Smith said he didn’t expect the person to survive.

Contact Wesley Juhl at wjuhl@reviewjournal.com and 702-383-0391. Contact Max Michor at mmichor@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Follow @WesJuhl and @MaxMichor on Twitter.