Las Vegas Shootout Leaves Cop Wounded, Suspect Dead

LAS VEGAS, NV — A shootout in Las Vegas left a police officer hurt and a suspect dead.

Police were investigating a report of a suspicious vehicle in front of a business on the 4100 block of West Tompkins Avenue. Police said the incident stemmed from a car burglary Monday, in which several cellphones were taken. On Tuesday, the victim tracked his iPhone to a pickup truck with a man sitting inside and called police.

Two officers responded to the scene around 4:15 p.m. and approached the suspicious vehicle. The officers talked with the suspect for several minutes and it became clear he wasn't going to exit the vehicle, police said. He tried to start the vehicle at least twice and refused orders to get out of the truck.

At one point, the suspect pulled out a semi-automatic handgun and began firing rounds at the officers, police said. One officer returned fire and struck the suspect at least once. It appears the suspect also shot himself.

He was found dead in the vehicle. His name hasn't been released.

One officer was shot on the lower side of his chest. A sergeant arrived at the scene moments after the officer was shot, put him in his squad car and drove him to the hospital, Las Vegas TV station 8newsnow reported.The wounded officer is in stable condition at a hospital and is expected to make a full recovery. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

The second officer later discovered he was also struck with gunfire when someone pointed out that his gun belt had stopped a bullet, police said.

Police blocked traffic in the area where the shooting occurred. A SWAT team also responded to the scene.

Video briefing from the scene of today's #OIS in which an LVMPD officer was injured by gunfire. #LVMPDnews https://t.co/XfIWm71Y7J
— LVMPD (@LVMPD) August 2, 2017

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