Man was shot in leg by police veteran

The Las Vegas police officer who shot a man in the leg on Wednesday has been identified as 48-year-old Dennis Devitte, a highly decorated officer who has been involved in two previous shootings in his career.

Devitte, who has been with the department since 1980, shot 37-year-old Robert Mulidore in a west valley apartment complex after Mulidore threatened the officer with a bat, according to police.

Devitte had responded to the Summerhill Pointe Apartments near Sahara Avenue and Fort Apache Road just before 2 p.m. after receiving numerous 911 calls of a domestic disturbance.

Numerous callers reported hearing a woman screaming for help and two men arguing over a gun, with one man threatening to kill the other, according to police.

When the officer arrived, he ordered Mulidore out of his apartment to surrender, but Mulidore left the apartment with a bat and moved threateningly toward another resident.

Devitte then fired three shots, striking him and causing him to fall, according to police. Police did not specify how many times Mulidore was shot.

A second officer then arrived, and Mulidore stood up and tried to flee as the second officer approached the scene. That officer fired a Taser, hitting Mulidore in the torso. Mulidore was taken to the hospital and then booked in the Clark County Detention Center.

In 1998, Devitte fatally shot a knife-wielding sex assault suspect, for which a coroner's jury found him justified.

A year later, Devitte, while off-duty, was shot eight times in a brazen shootout in a Las Vegas bar.

Three men, guns blazing, took over the Mr. D's sports bar at Rainbow and Oakey boulevards at 1:22 a.m., and Devitte chose to confront one of the men, 19-year-old Emilio Rodriguez, in a face-to-face gunbattle.

Rodriguez ended up dead, and five other patrons of the bar ended up with minor gunshot wounds.

Devitte underwent three surgeries during a seven-day stay in the hospital. For his performance, he was later awarded the Officer of the Year award by the International Association of Police Chiefs, a Top Cop award from the National Association of Police Organizations, and the Purple Heart and Medal of Valor by the Metropolitan Police Department.