New details released in fatal Henderson officer-involved shooting

Henderson police released new details about Saturday’s police shooting Thursday afternoon.

Police shot Bryan David Bauer, 36, of Las Vegas, when he ran at them holding a handgun, police said. He died at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center.

Police said Thursday that the initial investigation determined that the incident began when a woman approached the hotel’s front desk Saturday morning and stated that the man she was staying with in room 124 was behaving erratically and brandishing a handgun. The front desk immediately called 911, police said.

Officers were called to the Hilton Garden Inn Hotel at 1340 W. Warm Springs Road, near Stephanie Street, about 9:15 a.m. Patrol officers heard a gunshot and shouting from the room. They began evacuating the hotel, as well as nearby businesses, and called in the SWAT unit.

More than an hour later SWAT arrived, police said, and Bauer continued to act unstable.

At 10:35 a.m. officers were in the hallway outside the hotel room, when police said Bauer suddenly charged out of the room holding a 9mm handgun in his right hand and carrying a backpack in his left hand. He rushed directly toward officers standing less than eight feet from the doorway, police said.

Officer Forest Shields, employed with Henderson police since 2006, and Officer Benson Harper, who has been with the department since 2001, fired at him.

Shields is assigned to the SWAT unit, and Harper is assigned to patrol. Both were placed on routine administrative leave after the shooting, according to a news release sent Monday afternoon.

Crime scene investigators said Bauer fired eight rounds within the room and out the window. They also found two discharged canisters of pepper spray in the room and a full box of ammunition, police said.

Bauer was a registered felon with a 2008 conviction for a domestic violence-related offense in Snohomish County, Wash. He also had various gross misdemeanor and misdemeanor convictions, including assault and drug possession, according to police.

This was the first officer-involved shooting in Henderson this year. There were two in 2014.

Contact Wesley Juhl at wjuhl@reviewjournal.com and 702-383-0391. Find him on Twitter: @WesJuhl.