Police investigate shooting involving officer in North Las Vegas; subject in custody

One man was taken into custody after a string of robbery reports led to the man and police officers exchanging fire in North Las Vegas on Wednesday morning, the Metropolitan Police Department said.

Metro Captain Brandon Oris said police received a report of an armed robbery in the parking lot of a business at the 2500 block of South Fort Apache Road in west Las Vegas Valley at around 11:10 a.m. About 20 minutes later, police received a second report of a robbery at a business in the 2100 block of North Rainbow Boulevard, Oris said, east of the first report.

Oris said police spotted the man’s vehicle near Rancho Drive and West Lake Mead Boulevard and attempted to make him stop. The man refused, struck a Metro patrol car and fled, Oris said.

The pursuit ended at the 1900 block of Mcdonald Avenue in North Las Vegas when the man exited his vehicle and fired shots toward police officers who returned fire, Oris said. The man then barricaded himself in a nearby residence and was taken into custody a short time later, Oris said. He added that neither the suspect nor officers were injured.

Home security video from nearby neighbor Juan Alvarenga appears to show the suspect driving a U-Haul van at about 11:45 a.m. before abruptly getting out and aiming what appears to be a firearm in the direction of Metro officers.

The van, still in drive, creeps forward as the suspect runs around the front of it and through an open driveway gate at a pale yellow one-story house, the video shows. A few seconds later, the video shows a police officer jogging toward the driveway before side-stepping away while a Metro patrol car with flashing lights speeds past the house and the U-Haul.

A couple dozen people gathered near Carey Avenue and West Street, close to where the shooting occurred, just after noon, including Mario Munoz, who lives in the neighborhood where the barricade took place.

At least two-dozen police vehicles could be seen near the intersection, including multiple SWAT vehicles.

“I’ve lived here for about 14 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this,” Munoz said.

Munoz, who works at the Wynn Las Vegas, said he called his boss and had an officer at the scene confirm over the phone that he couldn’t get to his house to get his work clothes and that he’d be late for his shift.

Contact Bryan Horwath at bhorwath@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BryanHorwath on X. Contact Spencer Levering at slevering@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0253. Review-Journal multimedia journalist Aniea Collins contributed to this report.