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Man sentenced for ambushing 2 Las Vegas officers in 2015

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By Rachel Crosby Las Vegas Review-Journal
September 11, 2017 - 5:46 pm
 
Updated September 11, 2017 - 7:35 pm

A 19-year-old man must spend 15 years behind bars for ambushing two Las Vegas police officers in 2015 and opening fire, injuring one.

Francisco Urias-Quintana was 17 when the shooting occurred. A Clark County jury found him guilty in July of a host of charges, including two counts of attempted murder.

On Monday, the defendant’s mother, sister, aunts, uncles and cousins sat together in the courtroom to support him as he was sentenced.

The unprovoked shooting happened Sept. 6, 2015. Urias-Quintana approached two patrol officers who were stopped at a red light near Tropicana Avenue and Nellis Boulevard, then fired three shots from a semi-automatic weapon.

Officer Thomas Clevenger, 46, was shot in the hand. Clevenger’s partner, Sergio Orizabal, escaped injury. He chased down and arrested Urias-Quintana.

In 2016, the Metropolitan Police Department awarded both Clevenger and Orizabal the Medal of Valor, Metro’s highest honor, and Clevenger was given the Purple Heart.

Contact Rachel Crosby at rcrosby@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135. Follow @rachelacrosby on Twitter.

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