Las Vegas police share bodycam footage of officer-involved shooting
Las Vegas police released footage of a fatal police shooting from Tuesday night at a home in the central valley, which shows a man cursing and threatening to shoot officers before he is shot and killed.
Metropolitan Police Department officer Brendan Burbrink, 33, fired multiple rounds at a man who pointed a gun at himself, then at officers, Assistant Sheriff Tim Kelly said Thursday at a news conference.
The man, Alex Underdown, 54, died at the scene, Kelly said. The Clark County coroner’s office had not released Underdown’s official cause and manner of death as of Thursday.
Burbrink fired four rounds, striking the man once. Underdown, who had a Glock 9 mm handgun, did not fire his weapon.
About 5:30 p.m., Underdown’s wife called 911 to report the two were in an argument. She is heard in the call, which was played at the news conference, saying that Underdown was threatening her and had been drinking and that there were multiple guns in the home.
“He’s out of control,” she said, adding that “he’s trying to throw me out of my home.”
The wife also said that she was concerned for the welfare of the two dogs at the residence and that Underdown had pointed a gun at her in the past.
Officer’s didn’t arrive at the scene for about an hour and a half.
Police were dispatched to the home, near Maryland Parkway and Desert Inn Road, at 7:03 p.m. and arrived at 7:08 p.m., Kelly said.
When police arrived, Underdown’s wife had a black eye, and they attempted to call Underdown out of the home for an arrest on suspicion of domestic violence, Kelly said.
Body camera footage showed Underdown making repeated threats toward himself and officers. As an officer was trying to talk to him, Underdown said, “Shoot me man, I don’t give a (expletive).”
Underdown also told the officer that “you better hide behind that tree,” asked the officer if he was “ready to die” and later said, “I would suggest you take cover because I know how to shoot.”
Meanwhile, Burbrink and two other officers circled around Underdown’s yard and were standing on the other side of a wall separating his house from a neighbor. Footage showed Burbrink had his gun pointed at Underdown as the man continued to curse at officers.
After Burbrink shot at Underdown, he said that Underdown had pointed his firearm right at him.
“He pointed that (expletive) right at my face,” Burbrink said. “We’re like 3 feet from this guy.”
Footage from a police helicopter showed Underdown with a firearm. Neither the helicopter nor body camera footage angles showed Underdown immediately before he was shot, when police say he raised his weapon.
“Initially Underdown did not appear to be aware of officer Burbrink’s team located behind the wall,” Kelly said. “As Underdown was walking around his yard, he walked by officer Burbrink, then suddenly raised the firearm and pointed it at officer Burbrink and two other officers.”
If Underdown survived, he would have faced charges of domestic violence and three counts of assault with a deadly weapon on a protected person, Kelly said.
Kelly said police arrived at the home about an hour and a half after the 911 call because Underdown’s wife did not say she was injured that day, and there was a high call volume that night. Underdown’s wife called 911 once, Kelly said.
“That is something that we will look at in our Use of Force Review Board, and our tactical review board, to ensure that correct response call protocol was followed,” he said.
During the 911 call, the dispatcher asked Underdown’s wife if anyone had been “hit or pushed today.”
“No one’s been hit, but I’ve got some bruises on my face that somebody would like to look at,” Underdown’s wife said.
Burbrink has been with Metro since April 2015, and he is assigned to Metro’s south central area command, a release said.
Underdown’s death marks the eighth police shooting involving Metro officers this year, and the third time Metro officers fatally shot someone, according to records maintained by the Review-Journal. At this time last year, Metro officers were involved in six police shootings, three of which were fatal.
Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter. Review-Journal staff writer Mike Shoro contributed to this report.