Police investigate domestic-related homicide in east Las Vegas

A woman told Las Vegas police she shot her husband after he threatened her with a gun inside a backyard shed in the central valley Thursday afternoon.

She called police about 2:20 p.m. to report the shooting at the home on the 4100 block of Oakhill Avenue, near U.S. Highway 95 and East Harmon Avenue, Metropolitan Police Department homicide Lt. Ray Spencer said. Her husband, 40, died at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center.

“From listening to the phone call, she was obviously upset,” Spencer said.

The woman’s husband had called out to her from inside the shed, Spencer said. She met him inside and he then threatened her with a gun, he said, recounting details from her 911 call.

Police think the woman in her 30s then may have grabbed a gun of her own and shot him with it, Spencer said. The 911 call led police to initially treat the deadly shooting as a possible case of self-defense, he said.

Police had received a previous domestic disturbance call to the address, but specifics were unclear Thursday. Spencer also said a restraining order also had been issued against the husband but it was unknown if it was active.

The woman’s teen daughter was inside the house during the shooting. She was not a witness to the shooting and was uninjured.

Patrol officers had trouble entering the property, needing bolt cutters and other tools to get past the gate on the side of the house. Animal control officers also had to handle three dogs prior to Metro’s entry, he said.

The Clark County coroner’s office will release the man’s identity.

His death marks the 117th homicide investigated within the county and the 97th investigated by Metro this year, according to Las Vegas Review-Journal records.

Contact Mike Shoro at mshoro@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290. Follow @mike_shoro on Twitter.