Man in Las Vegas officer-involved shooting killed himself, DA report says

A public fact-finding review won’t be necessary for the May 2014 death of a man Las Vegas police shot at but never hit, according to the Clark County district’s attorney’s office.

Danny Wadsworth, 31, died in a car near the Strip after a police chase, according to a district attorney’s report made public Monday. An autopsy determined Wadsworth shot himself.

That backs up what Metro leadership said in the days after police fired on Wadsworth on May 30, 2014.

Wadsworth robbed two women at gunpoint at Town Square Las Vegas and stole several items, including an iPhone, police said. Using the “Find My iPhone” app, officers tracked the stolen cellphone and found Wadsworth’s vehicle.

But Wadsworth fled when officers tried to pull him over and crashed into the median on Sahara Avenue near Tam Drive, just west of Las Vegas Boulevard.

Officers then heard gunfire from inside the vehicle and believed Wadsworth was shooting at them, the district attorney’s report said. Officers shot at Wadsworth and found him dead in the car with a revolver in his right hand.

Wadsworth’s death was ruled a suicide, the report said. Officers’ rounds struck the vehicle he was in but not him.

Metro initially described the death as the result of a shootout.

The case could be re-examined if new information comes to light, the district attorney’s office said.

Contact Wesley Juhl at wjuhl@reviewjournal.com and 702-383-0391. Find him on Twitter: @WesJuhl.