School police shoot, kill threatening driver at south valley park

A driver was shot and killed by school police officers when he drove a vehicle toward them at a "high rate of speed" at a south valley park Friday, Clark County School District police said.

Before the shooting, the driver, only described as a male, crashed into a Metro patrol car, school district police Capt. Ken Young said Friday night.

The incident led to a collision at a nearby traffic barrier set up by police that sent a motorcyclist to the hospital, where he was undergoing surgery.

The incidents that led to the fatal shooting began about 4:30 p.m. near the intersection of Spencer Street and Windmill Lane, Young said.

The driver crashed into the front of the Metro vehicle, got behind it and crashed into the back of it, he said.

The driver didn't stop when Metro tried pulling him over, Young said. Instead he headed toward Desert Bloom Park, at the intersection of Maryland Parkway and Wigwam Avenue.

Two school police officers were at the park for an unrelated investigation with students when the vehicle headed toward them at a high rate of speed, Young said.

Both officers, who were able to get the children they were talking to out of the way, fired at the vehicle which was then in the parking lot, fatally striking the driver.

A nearby crash involving the motorcycle of one Metro officer, who wasn't injured, another motorcycle and an SUV was unrelated to the shooting, Young said. It happened after Metro had blocked traffic on Maryland.

A motorcyclist suffered a "substantial leg fracture and severe internal injuries," Metro Sgt. Richard Strader said, and the driver of a Dodge Durango was jailed and is facing a felony DUI charge.

Strader said Metro motorcycle officers were diverting traffic after the shooting, on Maryland and a few hundred feet south of the park, when a man in the SUV slammed into the back of a Harley-Davidson. The motorcycle and the man driving it were thrown about 100 feet. The motorcycle hit a Metro motorcycle and just missed an officer.

The motorcyclist was being operated on at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, Strader said. "We hope he pulls through."

Bertha Casian's son, Michael, 11, said he witnessed the shooting at the park. The boy, who lives near the park, was playing football with other children when he said he saw the car approaching and the officers shoot. He said there were many kids around and that they scattered when they heard gunshots. "My heart was beating hard," he said.

Another boy, 14, who didn't identify himself, said he was playing basketball when the shooting happened. He said he saw the driver slumped forward inside the vehicle. The man appeared to be dead, he said.

Michael said police gathered all who weren't allowed to leave the park and fed them pizza and hot chocolate while some were questioned and others waited to be picked up.

More information on the shooting was not immediately available. Maryland Parkway remained shut down in both directions as of 9:50 p.m.

Review-Journal writer Colton Lochhead contributed to this report. Contact Ricardo Torres at rtorres@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Find him on Twitter: @rickytwrites.