Man fatally shot by officers had violent past, police say
The man Las Vegas police killed Thursday at an apartment complex had a history of domestic violence.
Christopher M. Gatewood, 39, had been arrested twice on domestic violence charges, police said Monday.
Police were called about 11:45 a.m. Thursday to Siegel Suites, 2000 Paradise Road, after a woman reported a domestic disturbance at an apartment. Arriving officers saw the woman had been beaten, and a man inside was armed with a knife and possibly was suicidal.
“According to the victim, Gatewood told her, ‘If you call the cops, I’m going to hurt them or make them shoot me,’” Clark County Assistant Sheriff Charles Hank told reporters Monday.
Officers knocked on the door several times and heard Gatewood yelling inside, police said. Gatewood slightly opened the door and showed the knife to officers, but he ignored several commands to drop the knife.
“You wanna see my hands?” he can be heard screaming in body-camera footage released by the Metropolitan Police Department. “What are you gonna do?”
Then he lunged toward officers, police said.
Two officers fired at Gatewood a combined 12 times, police said. Preliminary evidence shows Gatewood was hit 11 times in the close-range shooting. Another officer shot Gatewood with a stun gun at the same time. Gatewood died at the scene.
After the shooting, investigators found evidence of methamphetamine use in the apartment and a self-inflicted knife wound on Gatewood’s wrist, Hank said.
On Saturday, the department identified the officers who shot Gatewood as Rafael Camacho and Kenshin Rose, both 28.
Camacho, who has been with Metro since 2014, fired eight times. Rose, who joined the department in July and is still in field training, fired four times.
This marked Metro’s fourth police shooting this year. At this time last year, Metro had investigated two police shootings.
Contact Blake Apgar at bapgar@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5298. Follow @blakeapgar on Twitter. Review-Journal staff writer Rio Lacanlale contributed to this report.
Las Vegas police shootings in 2018
Jan. 26: Las Vegas police shot and killed Axell Vivas hours after he killed his wife, Christy G. Vaughn. Officers found Vivas sitting alone in his car in the south valley. Police shot him after he got out of the car and refused to drop his gun.
Jan. 26: Less than 24 hours after the first police shooting of the year, a Metropolitan Police Department officer shot Justin Blake after pointed a gun at police on the 1800 block of Las Vegas Boulevard South. He survived and is being held at Clark County Detention Center.
Feb. 6: An officer shot at Alan Keith Baker twice after Baker pointed a revolver at officers on the 3300 block of Lingo Street in the northwest valley. Baker had threatened to harm himself, authorities said. Police said Baker fatally shot himself after the officer opened fire. The Clark County coroner's office ruled his death a suicide.
March 29: Two Las Vegas police officers shot and killed Christopher Gatewood after he refused to drop his weapon and lunged at officers with a kitchen knife.
