Suspect in double homicide shot, killed by Las Vegas police

More than 12 hours after the Monday afternoon discovery of a bloody double homicide in the western Las Vegas Valley, a next-door neighbor suspected of the killings was fatally shot by SWAT officers in his home.

At 8 a.m. Tuesday, the 7300 block of Newcrest Circle, near Flamingo Road and Tenaya Way, still was taped off by police.

The cul-de-sac turned into a crime scene just before 1:50 p.m. the day before, when police said one man was found dead on the front lawn of a home, and another man was found inside.

Details surrounding the double homicide were not immediately available, and authorities have not released the causes of the men’s deaths.

“There’s a lot of blood on the scene,” homicide Capt. Robert Plummer said Monday evening. “That’s all we know right now.”

Metro detectives and SWAT officers worked into the early morning hours Tuesday attempting to take the suspect into custody in the neighboring home. Instead, at about 2:20 a.m. in an upstairs bedroom, he was killed by two officers after aiming his firearm at police, Capt. Kelly McMahill said.

The suspect was taken to University Medical Center’s trauma unit, where he later died.

The SWAT team first arrived at about 9 p.m. Monday, negotiating with the suspect for several hours. McMahill said officers eventually entered the house after several failed attempts at contacting the suspect and encountered the locked bedroom on the second floor.

McMahill said the man again refused to exit the bedroom, forcing SWAT officers to break down the door and send in a police dog. When the dog failed to return after several minutes, she said, officers entered the room and found the man on top of the dog, actively fighting the animal.

Police said the suspect rolled over and pointed a firearm at members of the SWAT team before two SWAT officers opened fire and struck him twice. Police will identify the officers involved in the shooting within 48 hours.

This is the 20th officer-involved shooting investigated by Metro this year.

The three men who died, including the homicide suspect, will be identified by the Clark County coroner’s office once their families have been notified. The two Monday afternoon deaths marked the 217th and 218th homicides in Clark County this year, and the 189th and 190th investigated by Metro.

Contact Max Michor at mmichor@reviewjournal.com. Follow @MaxMichor on Twitter. Review-Journal staff writer Rio Lacanlale contributed to this story.