Man shot by Las Vegas police had fake gun, undersheriff says

The man shot by Las Vegas police last week confronted officers with a fake gun, police said Monday.

Jason Mahe, 29, was shot seven times in the parking lot of Dotty’s Casino near Rancho and Vegas drives during the late-night confrontation, according to police. He remained in critical condition at University Medical Center.

The incident began when officers were called about about a man and a woman trying to pass counterfeit money in a 7-Eleven across the street from Dotty’s, Undersheriff Jim Dixon said at a press conference.

Police found Mahe inside Dotty’s and took him to the parking lot, where he tried to run away, Dixon said.

An officer grabbed him, and the two began to struggle over the gun in Mahe’s waistband, police said.

Mahe escaped, and the officers took cover while Mahe ran between two cars, ignoring officers’ commands to drop the weapon, Dixon said. When Mahe turned around and tried to pull the gun from his waistband, three officers shot him from about 15 feet away, police said.

Officers Darrin Kaplan, 44, Christian Belt, 35, and Chrisnar Sok, 28, placed on routine paid administrative leave pending an internal investigation.

Dixon said there is no way for officers to notice the difference between a fake gun from a real gun upon first glance. Police recovered a Black Ops Colt 1911 replica pellet gun at the scene.

At the time of the shooting, Mahe was wanted in Ohio on a parole violation and was considered dangerous and possibly armed, according to Ohio authorities.

When police caught him, Mahe was driving a stolen Jeep and he had ‘shaved keys,’ which are used to steal cars, Dixon said.

Mahe was paroled in January after serving an 11-month prison sentence for an aggravated assault near Cleveland. Mahe, who has a history of drug charges, also served time in the state on an aggravated robbery charge in 2008, according to court records.

Las Vegas police had evidence that Mahe might have wanted officers to shoot him, known as a “suicide by cop.”

He faces charges of grand larceny auto, possession of burglary tools, and three counts of resisting a public officer with a weapon.

Contact reporter Steven Slivka at 702-383-0381 or at sslivka@reviewjournal.com. Follow @StevenSlivka on Twitter.