Police: Man killed by officers had criminal past, drug and mental issues — VIDEO

The man shot and killed last Tuesday by three Las Vegas police officers had a long criminal history and drug and mental health issues, Metro announced Monday.

Thomas Joseph Mceniry, 32, of Las Vegas, died at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center on Nov. 24 after he was shot by three Metro officers about 2 a.m. at an apartment complex near Maryland Parkway and Twain Avenue.

Mceniry's criminal history included charges of child abuse, domestic violence, grand larceny and burglary, police said in a press conference Monday. Assistant Sheriff Kirk Primas said Mceniry had been arrested 32 times and had spent a total of about four years in prison.

Mcerniry's record was not known at the time of the shooting, but Primas said police later learned the man had an unspecified mental health issue that required regular medication. He had held a stable job, but Primas said he recently stopped taking his medication and was no longer working. He was wanted on a shoplifting charge at the time of his death.

The six-minute altercation that ended in Mceniry's death started when Metro Officer Kyle Prior reportedly saw a white Mitsubishi sedan turn without using a signal in the area of East Sahara Avenue and Maryland. When Prior ran the license plate, it came back for another vehicle. The driver — later identified as Mceniry — refused to stop but Prior did not chase him, instead calling for back-up.

About a mile and a half away, another officer spotted the same car with its lights off and no one driving, slowly rolling toward the intersection of Maryland and Katie Avenue. The officer blocked the car from entering the intersection and learned from witnesses that the driver had run into the nearby French Oaks apartment complex.

A security guard was escorting Mceniry out of the complex when police arrived there. A video camera worn by Prior captured his interaction with Mceniry:

"Hey where are you coming from?" the officer asks. Mceniry mumbles back. Prior then tells him to "put your hands on the bumper, put your f***ing hands on the bumper."

Mceniry instead backs away, refusing to get on the ground or show his hands as Prior repeatedly commands. As he backs away, he can be heard yelling, "I didn't do nothing, I didn't do nothing. No, no, no."

Prior then used a Taser on Mceniry, who "fell backwards, screaming, but fought through," police said Monday. Mceniry rolled over and reached for a gun that fell out of his waistband — later determined to be an Airsoft pellet gun that looked like a firearm — and aimed it at officers, Primas said.

Prior and two other officers shot Mceniry. No officers were injured. Officers Robert Nord, 26, and Prior, 26, each fired three rounds at Mceniry. Officer Donald Sutton III, 32, fired twice.

Prior has worked for Metro for seven years, Nord for one-and-a-half years and Sutton for one year, police said.

Though the license plate was wrong, Primas said "the Mitsubishi Mceniry was driving was in fact his, but unregistered."

Contact Rachel Crosby at rcrosby@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290. Find her on Twitter: @rachelacrosby. Contact Kimber Laux at klaux@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Find her on Twitter: @lauxkimber.