Man facing attempted murder in Las Vegas shooting that police said targeted an officer
A 19-year-old man is accused of attempted murder in a shooting that hit an occupied Metropolitan Police Department vehicle Friday night in east Las Vegas.
Jaime Bustillos Jr. was booked into the Clark County Detention Center on nine counts, including attempted murder with use of a deadly weapon and gun-related charges.
The shooting, which missed the officer driving the Metro vehicle, occurred about 6 p.m. in the 6400 block of East Stewart Avenue, west of North Hollywood Boulevard, police said.
In the hour prior to the shooting, the officer was participating in an operation trying to track down a person wanted in a “felony evade” case, police said.
Police said the wanted person was believed to be in a white Volkswagen sedan, which the officer was surveilling.
The officer then saw a man who matched the suspect’s description enter a black Pontiac car, police said. The officer then began following the car.
However, he realized that the driver wasn’t the target of the surveillance and stopped following, police said.
On the way back to surveil the Volkswagen, the officer encountered it and began following it, police said.
As that was happening, the Pontiac drove parallel to the officer, police said.
The officer reported seeing the driver aiming a gun at him and opening fire, and told investigators he heard a “thump on his vehicle,” police said. The officer’s back windshield was shattered.
Fearing for his life and trying to “disengage” with the Pontiac, the victim crashed into the unmarked vehicle of another officer, police said. It wasn’t clear if the officer was driving a marked police car.
The officer was hospitalized with crash-related injuries, police said.
Police found the Volkswagen and the Pontiac at a home and officers ordered everyone to exit, including Bustillos, who matched a description provided by the officer, according to his arrest report.
A spent casing and a bullet was found inside the Pontiac and investigators recovered multiple guns inside the home, police said.
Police said a gun inside Bustillos’ bedroom, which magazine was missing two bullets, matched the ammunition material found in the Pontiac.
It wasn’t clear if police arrested the person they were initially looking for.
Bustillos was due to appear in court Tuesday.
Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com.