Internal investigations clear officers in three fatal shootings

Las Vegas police Monday released their internal reports into three more fatal shootings, revealing that the agency cleared the officers involved in the fatal incidents.

The release is part of a new department policy. For the first time, the agency is releasing the findings of its homicide detectives and its internal investigators on its website, lvmpd.com.

Sheriff Doug Gillespie said earlier this month that he was releasing the reports because the coroner's inquest process, for decades the sole forum for public scrutiny of fatal police actions, has been delayed indefinitely.

District Attorney Steve Wolfson already has cleared the officers of any criminal wrongdoing in the shooting deaths of Tory Manvilla, Mauricio Hernandez and Jaime Padilla.

Manvilla, 49, had broken into a home and was wielding a knife when he was shot and killed by officers Feb. 15, 2011.

Padilla, 21, was killed by SWAT officers after he fired at officers during a standoff at an apartment complex 13 days later.

Hernandez, 23, was killed March 8, 2011, by an officer getting coffee at a bar. Hernandez, who was later linked to a shooting earlier in the day, fired at the officer without warning.

All three men had methamphetamine in their systems.

The Las Vegas police Use of Force Review Board, a group of civilians and police, cleared all seven officers involved in the three incidents.

After Manvilla's death, the department's new Office of Internal Oversight created training scenarios similar to the incident for its officers.

The training focused on de-escalating incidents and team responses to critical incidents.

Las Vegas police have not yet released the reports into two high-profile shooting deaths from 2011: Rafael Olivas, the 23-year-old who was distraught and wielding a knife when he was shot, and Stanley Gibson, the disabled Gulf War veteran who was unarmed when he was killed.

The agency is waiting for a ruling from Wolfson on whether the officers' actions in those cases were legal.

Contact reporter Lawrence Mower at lmower@review journal.com or 702-383-0440. Contact reporter Antonio Planas at aplanas@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4638.