Henderson releases video, 911 calls from officer-involved shooting

Henderson police on Thursday evening released body-camera footage of a police shooting where officers shot a man who was lying on his back, waving a 3.25-inch folding knife toward an officer.

The footage came from the shooting about 6:30 a.m. Dec. 10 in front of the Bourbon Street Sports Bar at North Major Avenue and Boulder Highway, the Henderson Police Department said. Records of a 911 call released with the footage Thursday shows that a man at the bar called police to report another man, who appeared to be drunk with “a bottle in his hand,” banging on doors and windows while trying to get inside.

The man appeared to be trying to talk to a woman inside the bar, the 911 caller said.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with him, I don’t even know if they’re together or what but she seen him coming and (she) ran,” the 911 caller said, later adding that Valle-Lopez was attempting to break a window.

Body camera footage shows that as officers arrived outside the bar, they immediately order a man, later identified as 40-year-old Israel Valle-Lopez, to take his hands out of his pockets. The officer then pulls his gun out as Valle-Lopez continues to walk toward him with his hands in his blue hoodie.

When Valle-Lopez gets close to the officer, he pushes the 40-year-old to the ground. Another officer comes up from behind Valle-Lopez and grabs his left hand, pulling Valle-Lopez onto his back.

While Valle-Lopez is on his back, he pulls out a knife with his right hand and waves it back toward the wrist of the officer holding his other hand. Police have said that Valle-Lopez attempted to stab the officer.

A single shot rang out, hitting Valle-Lopez. Henderson police on Dec. 12 identified the officer who shot Valle-Lopez as Andrew Avanessian, who’s been employed with the department since January 2017.

After he’s shot, the 40-year-old rolled onto his side, the knife apparently held under his body, while officers continued to order him to drop it.

“Let me see your hands, roll over, we can’t help you if you don’t roll over,” a cop is heard shouting in the video.

The officers leave Valle-Lopez on the ground for about a minute until he moves his leg and pulls the knife out from under his body, throwing it onto the sidewalk. No footage was shown after Valle-Lopez threw the knife away from him.

While describing the lead-up to the shooting in a video statement, Deputy Chief Michael Denning said that after Valle-Lopez was knocked to the ground, he “produced a knife in his right hand.”

“Mr. Lopez was given directions to drop the knife as the third officer attempted to gain control of Mr. Lopez’s hands,” Denning said. “Mr. Lopez attempted to stab that officer, resulting in the cover officer discharging his service weapon.”

Valle-Lopez was hospitalized in stable condition after the shooting. Denning said in the statement released Thursday that Valle-Lopez is “expected to recover from his injuries.”

Denning said officers found a black, 3.25-inch folding knife at the scene of the shooting.

Avanessian was placed on paid administrative leave while the department investigates the shooting, police have said.

In a video statement regarding the footage, Lt. Kirk Moore said “this transparent viewing is in no way intended to draw any conclusions about whether the officers involved acted consistent with our policies in the law, until all the facts are known and our investigation is complete.”

The statement, footage and 911 call was released about 5:05 p.m. Thursday, as the department was closing for the weekend.

Moore said in Thursday’s statement that the shooting remained under investigation.

Valle-Lopez was the first of three people to be injured by police gunfire within five days last week.

On Dec. 12, 42-year-old Daniel Thornburg was shot during a shoot-out with officers at a home on the 300 block of Cannes Street, across the street from Brown Junior High School. Officers returned fire after Thornburg shot at them, and he was hospitalized in critical but stable condition.

A man and woman on a reported stolen motorcycle had been pulled over by officers in the area, and they pointed out a home where they said the owner of the motorcycle was. Thornburg fired when officers went to investigate the home.

Four officers and a sergeant were involved in the shooting: Sgt. Kevin Abernathy, Chad Burgess, Chad Casey, Jesse Hehn and Daniel Medrano, police said Saturday.

On Saturday morning, 37-year-old John Watson was shot outside a shopping center on the 2700 block of North Green Valley Parkway, near Sunset Road. Officers were called about 8:05 a.m. to a business in the shopping center, after reports of a man armed with a knife who was asking people to call police, saying “I’m going to stab someone,” police said.

Officer Nicklaus Hamby shot Watson after he “advanced on officers, the department has said. Watson was hospitalized Saturday in critical condition.

Henderson police have been involved in eight shootings this year. At this time last year, officers had only been involved in three — the only police shootings from the department in 2018.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.