Man says he’s lucky to be alive after failed suicide-by-cop attempt

The man shot by Henderson police officers Dec. 26 in a failed suicide attempt is grateful to be alive.

Tony Allen McNeill said Tuesday that he was shot three times, not once as was previously reported, after refusing to put down a .22-caliber rifle following a domestic disturbance at a condominium.

"I feel pretty damn lucky that I ain't dead," the 53-year-old unemployed maintenance worker said after a brief hearing in Henderson Justice Court. "I got shot by three.40-caliber bullets."

McNeill said a friend posted his bail about a week ago, and that act of kindness probably saved his life. He said he had complained about pain from one of his wounds, and a nurse at the Clark County Detention Center advised him to go directly to the emergency room upon his release.

He was in surgery within an hour or two of arriving at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center. A pump used to draw the infection from the wound was still taped to his chest Tuesday.

McNeill was shot after refusing to put down the single-shot .22-caliber rifle he carried outside the home at Boulder Highway and Racetrack Road that he has shared with his parents for 15 years.

His mother, Charlene McNeill, called police after her son, who was distraught over losing a job and was dealing with health issues, fired the rifle at least twice inside the home, she said.

One round went into the living room ceiling after he initially placed the barrel of the rifle under his chin.

And while he acknowledges it was his intent to commit suicide that day, McNeill said he never would have fired on officers.

"The intention in the first place was for me to shoot myself," he said. "It was never my intention to hurt anyone else."

He said that he never aimed the rifle at officers and that he was holding the weapon in one hand when he was shot.

"I'm not going to take on an army with a single-shot," he said.

But McNeill also said he has no recollection of the shooting itself or of police commanding him to drop the rifle.

Police spokesman Keith Paul said officers John Bellow, Kevin Perkins and Christopher Gerhard fired on McNeill after he aimed his rifle in their direction and failed to follow their repeated commands to drop the weapon.

Paul said the officers feared for their lives. He said a jury will hear the evidence and render a verdict.

In any event, McNeill said he is grateful he didn't die that day, either by his own hand or by police.

He said two bullets hit him in the chest and one in his right side that exited his back. He suffered a punctured lung and a broken clavicle that he said will require surgery. He also has an appointment with a surgeon who might have to perform another operation on his chest, he said.

Paul said he didn't know how many rounds hit the man.

McNeill was under armed guard for several weeks while being treated for his wounds at Sunrise Hospital before he was taken to the Clark County Detention Center.

He said one of his chest wounds became infected while he was in custody. "I thought I was going to die in there."

McNeill said he intends once again to seek the help of mental health providers who have treated him for more than two decades. His mother said in an interview last month that her son had stopped going to his appointments shortly before the incident after going "religiously" for years.

"I just need to take care of my mental health issues and my court issues," he said.

Because McNeill was under the influence of painkillers after his surgery, Henderson Justice of the Peace David Gibson postponed his preliminary hearing until March 6.

McNeill faces three counts of assault with a deadly weapon and three counts of discharging a firearm into a structure, all felonies.

Contact reporter Doug McMurdo at dmcmurdo@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5512.