Details few of man shot by police

Before John Paul Hambleton was shot in the back by a Las Vegas police detective last week, he was a U.S. Army veteran, UNLV student -- and convicted criminal.

Details of the slain 32-year-old physical therapy assistant's life can be pieced together through court documents and public records. But because his family won't speak about him and police are declining to comment, little else is known about him.

Born in Mountain Home, Ark., near the Missouri border, he joined the Army at 18. He achieved the rank of sergeant as a petroleum supply specialist.

He was assigned to posts in Virginia, South Carolina and Germany and received several awards including the Army Achievement Medal and the Army Good Conduct Medal.

Just months after being honorably discharged from the Army, he was hired as an armored truck driver by Loomis Fargo, court documents show.

In 2002, over the course of a month and a half, he stole nearly $6,000 from the company's ATM machines. He was caught and repaid $2,100, but the company pressed charges for the remaining amount.

In a plea to the judge to reduce his bail amount, he said he had owned a home in Clark County for three years, was a full-time student at UNLV, and lived with his girlfriend and her two children for three years.

He pleaded guilty to a gross misdemeanor charge of attempted theft and was ordered to pay $3,400 in restitution to Loomis Fargo. He served a year's probation.

His stint at UNLV started in 1997, when he briefly attended classes before transferring away from the school, according to the university. He resumed classes in 2001 with a major in the health sciences field until 2004. He never graduated.

In February he was hired by Salt Lake City-based Mountain Land Rehabilitation and was contracted to work at the El Jen Convalescent Hospital and Retirement Center near Rancho Drive and Alexander Road.

That's where two detectives interviewed Hambleton July 1 as a "person of interest" in a sexual assault case involving a minor, according to police. At the end of the interview, police determined he was a suspect in the case and placed him under arrest.

During the arrest he fled and the two detectives ran after him. According to police a physical altercation took place, and one of the detectives shot him.

A witness told the Review-Journal that Hambleton was seven or eight feet away from the detective when he was shot. That woman and her husband gave statements to police on Wednesday.

A medical examiner determined he was killed by a gunshot wound to the back.

Police have not released details of the incident or the crime Hambleton was suspected of, choosing instead to release the details at an Aug. 14 coroner's inquest.

Attempts to reach Hambleton's family in Arden, N.C., to talk about Hambleton have been unsuccessful.

A woman, who didn't want to be identified, would tell a reporter only that her family has no animosity toward Las Vegas police and they didn't intend to sue.

Review-Journal writer Antonio Planas contributed to this report. Contact reporter Lawrence Mower at lmower@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0440.