Henderson officer put on paid leave

A Henderson police officer who fatally shot an ice cream truck driver last year is accused of "inappropriate behavior" with his sister-in-law, who was then 15, according to court documents obtained Wednesday.

Henderson police officer Luke Morrison, 24, is on paid administrative leave, but city and police officials would not discuss the reason why.

"I can't comment on anything related to officer Morrison," said Henderson spokesman Bud Cranor. "This is an internal, personnel-related issue."

According to an April request for a restraining order filed in the Family Division of Clark County District Court, Morrison's father-in-law accused him of taking advantage of his daughter, who turned 18 this month.

The document said the relationship began when the girl was a minor. The girl's father reported the allegation to Henderson police, the document said.

A judge denied the father's request for a temporary restraining order against Morrison because the accusation didn't fall under the category of domestic violence, the document said.

At an April hearing, the girl opposed the request for a restraining order and denied having a relationship with Morrison, according to the hearing minutes.

Morrison also denied having a relationship with the girl.

Morrison's father-in-law claimed the relationship began in 2007. Morrison has been married to the girl's older sister since Jan. 1, 2004, according to Clark County records.

"Everyone involved was blind to what was happening due to Luke being a Henderson Police Officer," the man wrote in the application. "I have contacted the Henderson Police Department and they are investigating the case."

Morrison was not home Wednesday when a reporter attempted to contact him. Morrison said Sunday he didn't want to comment on why he was placed on administrative leave.

Cranor said Morrison was still on the city's payroll as of Wednesday evening. He would not confirm if police investigated the allegation or say if the matter was handled criminally or internally.

The father-in-law, reached Wednesday at his Henderson home, declined to comment. "It's all been taken care of," he said.

Family members saw the teenager and Morrison sneaking off together, the court document said. The girl's father said a relative once intercepted an inappropriate text message to his teenage daughter from Morrison.

The relative found a message on the girl's cell phone that stated: "Good night. I love you," the report said.

The relative then verified the phone number with the number she had for Morrison in her own phone.

Morrison was the officer who fatally shot 42-year-old Deshira Selimaj on Feb. 12, 2008, in one of the valley's most controversial officer-involved shootings. Numerous witnesses disputed the police version of events in the days after the shooting.

On that afternoon, Selimaj's Albanian-born husband had been pulled over in his ice cream truck for minor traffic violations at Sunridge Heights and Pecos Ridge parkways.

Selimaj, accompanied by two of the couple's three children, drove her ice cream truck to the scene to help a patrol officer communicate with her husband.

The situation became volatile. Police said the 42-year-old mother raised a knife in the direction of one of the officers and was shot by Morrison, an act later ruled justifiable by a coroner's inquest jury.

Several witnesses said Selimaj didn't have a knife and that she was sitting on a curb when she was shot.

At the April 2008 inquest, Henderson police officer Anthony Pecorella credited Morrison for saving his life. He said Morrison shot the woman after she lunged at him with a knife. According to inquest testimony, a knife found at the scene had a 41/2-inch blade.

Selimaj died at a hospital shortly after suffering a single gunshot wound in her abdomen.

Henderson city officials last week agreed to a $700,000 settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit filed on behalf of the Deshira Selimaj's widower, Zyber Selimaj.

The federal lawsuit initially sought $25 million in damages.

Former Henderson Police Chief Richard Perkins said he didn't know why Morrison was placed on leave. But Perkins, who headed the department when the Selimaj shooting took place, repeated his previous comments about Morrison, calling him a "war hero" for his service in Iraq.

"This isn't anything that happened on my watch," Perkins said Tuesday. "The comments I made during the situation he's widely known for still hold today."

Morrison's Nevada National Guard files, which were obtained by the Review-Journal earlier this year, show no record of disciplinary action during his time in the National Guard and the Army.

Review-Journal reporters Alan Maimon and Lawrence Mower contributed to this report. Contact reporter Antonio Planas at aplanas@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4638. Contact reporter Brian Haynes at bhaynes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0281.