Las Vegas police officer ID’d in shooting, killing of bat-wielding man
A Metropolitan Police Department officer shot and killed a man who was approaching officers with a metal baseball bat at a Las Vegas apartment complex Friday morning, police said.
The officer involved in the shooting was identified as 21-year-old Officer Samuel Garcia on Sunday, who has worked for the department since 2022. He has been placed on routine paid administrative leave “pending the outcome of a review of this incident,” police said in a news release.
Just after 9 a.m. Friday, officers responded to reports of a man trying door handles and threatening tenants at The Allister apartment complex on the 5100 block of Rawhide Street, near East Russell Road and South Nellis Boulevard, Metro Capt. Kurt McKenzie said in a briefing to reporters near the scene Friday.
Officers confronted the person, who McKenzie said was “almost immediately” uncooperative, at the back of the complex.
The man was using a vehicle as a barrier between him and officers and after talking to officers, he walked to the passenger side of the vehicle and got an aluminum baseball bat, McKenzie said.
When the man turned the bat towards the officers, McKenzie said they “almost simultaneously” deployed an “electric control device,” which is a less lethal option used by police to shock a person. The device was not effective, he said.
As the man continued to approach officers, officers deployed their electronic control devices two more times, but they weren’t effective, and at the same time, one officer fired his gun, striking the man, McKenzie said.
The man fell to the ground. Officers then took him into custody and tried to render aid but he was pronounced dead on the scene, McKenzie said.
Around 1 p.m. Friday, the man could be seen lying partially uncovered behind the apartment complex.
McKenzie said it wasn’t yet known how many shots the officer fired.
This was Metro’s ninth officer-involved shooting this year, McKenzie said. No officers were injured.
Contact Estelle Atkinson at eatkinson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @estellelilym on X and @estelleatkinsonreports on Instagram. Digital content producer Tony Garcia contributed to this report.