One Las Vegas Police Officer Dead, one wounded

[444]

http://www.klas-tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4442110
http://www.kvbc.com/Global/story.asp?S=4443042

Las Vegas Metro Officer Shot and Killed, Another Injured
Feb 1, 2006, 07:52 PM PST


It started out like many other calls, a domestic disturbance with a man accused of beating his girlfriend. But this one was different, much different. When the officer arrived at the home in the southwest valley near Durango and Russell, he called for backup but then the gunman attacked, shooting the officer with an assault rifle and killing him. He is the first Metro officer to be shot to death in the line of duty in 18 years.

Another Metro officer was wounded, shot in the leg. Fortunately, his injuries aren't life threatening. Eyewitness News was there as the dazed officer was brought to the hospital under the watchful eye of his Metro colleauges.

Sheriff Bill Young is holding a news conference tonight at 8:30 p.m. Channel 8 Eyewitness News will have live as soon as the conference gets underway.

Metro police issued a short timeline statement at 4 p.m.

1) Officer responded to a violent domestic call at approximately 1:20 p.m. The officer was met in the front yard of the residence by the girlfriend of the suspect, her mother and brother.

2) Prior to the officer arriving, police received numerous calls from neighbors about a suspect out in the front yard beating a woman with a stick and chasing her around the yard.

3) Once officers arrived on the scene, they conferred with the family in the front yard. They related to the officers the suspect had retreated into the house.

4) Officers approached the house, which had an open door. As they approached the doorway they were immediately met by gunfire. The suspect was using an assault rifle.

5) One officer was instantly killed. The second officer returned fire on the suspect and the suspect was killed.

Metro officers have gathered at UMC while the injured officer undegoes treatment. He was reportedly shot three times in the right knee. No information has been released yet on the officer that was killed.

According to police, the deceased officer was responding to a domestic disturbance. Police say that officer realized he was dealing with a violent suspect and would need assistance and called for help. An off duty officer on his way to work responded. When that officer arrived, he saw that the first officer had been shot. He returned fire hitting the suspect, but not before he was shot three times in the leg.

The shooting happened around 1:30 p.m. at 8336 Feather Duster Court in the southwest part of the valley.

The last two Southern Nevada officers shot and killed in the line of duty were North Las Vegas police officer Raul Paul Elizondo in 1995 and Metro Officer Marc Kahre in 1988.

 

[SomeKid]

Unless I missed something, it is one dead cop, one dead suspect, one wounded cop. A pity the nut couldn't be dropped first. Would have probably been best. Will this cause idiocy to abound in NVs legislature, or are they smart enough to realize that retards do stupid things?

 

[444]

Corrected, early reports were evidently wrong.

FWIW, day before yesterday I was working on the paramedic unit that responded on that call.

 

[gazpacho]

I have a couple of friends in Metro, and thankfully none of them are the officer in question. Unfortunately someone's Metro friend died today.

I'm not too worried about the gun laws getting screwed up. There are too many gun-enthusiasts, horse people, and mormons here to let that happen. Also there are two nifty little bits of law:

Section. 1. Inalienable rights. All men are by Nature free and equal and have certain inalienable rights among which are those of enjoying and defending life and liberty; Acquiring, Possessing and Protecting property and pursuing and obtaining safety and happiness[.]

Sec. 11. Right to keep and bear arms; civil power supreme.
1. Every citizen has the right to keep and bear arms for security and defense, for lawful hunting and recreational use and for other lawful purposes.

- Nevada Constitution

 

[SomeKid]

gaz, try concealing without a government approved permission slip, or OCing in the cities that forbid it.

 

[buffdriver]

Unless I missed something, it is one dead cop, one dead suspect, one wounded cop.

I read both the KLAS and KVBC versions. I see where the perp was hit, but not dead. Can someone clarify?

May God bless the family of the fallen officer.

 

[Hacker15E]

Everything would have been okay if it weren't for that evil assault rifle. If the suspect had only been armed with a sane sporting purposes only rifle, he wouldn't have killed the officer.

In all seriousness, peace be with the family of the slain officer...a true tragedy no matter how you look at it.

 

[LAK]

Current manning levels dictate that often it is a single officer responding to domestic disturbances. But it is a foolhardy practice all the same. As is the omission of a rifle in the trunk of every patrol car - be it issued or privately owned - as an option.
---------------------------------------

http://ussliberty.org
http://ssunitedstates.org

 

[Optical Serenity]

Another officer dead....When will the admin learn!

God bless the fallen officer and his family.

 

[SomeKid]

I read both the KLAS and KVBC versions. I see where the perp was hit, but not dead. Can someone clarify?

Go to the original post, and look for point 5 in the quoted news source.

 

[Janitor]

The suspect was using an assault rifle.

The word "assult" is not a noun!

My heart goes out to the officers surviving family. Nobody deserves to go this way - shot by some lowlife simply because he was the one who came to help.

 

[Nathanael_Greene]

The word "assult" is not a noun!

Oh, sure it is. Whether it's an *adjective* might be a point of debate.

Anyway, this is a tragedy for the officer's loved ones and the PD. I have law-enforcement officers in my family, and I know they worry more about domestic disputes than any other kind of call.

 

[TexasRifleman]

Current manning levels dictate that often it is a single officer responding to domestic disturbances. But it is a foolhardy practice all the same. As is the omission of a rifle in the trunk of every patrol car - be it issued or privately owned - as an option.

In this case would it have mattered, or would the officer thought to grab his rifle?

I wonder if he was wearing a vest?

I'm of the opinion that domestics should all be responded to by SWAT.
You get people at their ABSOLUTE worst.

RIP

 

[Father Knows Best]

In this case would it have mattered, or would the officer thought to grab his rifle?

I wonder if he was wearing a vest?

I'm of the opinion that domestics should all be responded to by SWAT.
You get people at their ABSOLUTE worst.

RIP

My thoughts exactly. This sounds like an unpreventable tragedy. There is almost nothing that can reasonably be done to prevent deranged individuals like this one from ambushing LEOs with a rifle. Without advance warning that the individual was armed and presented a threat to the LEO, how do you prevent it? You can't, unless we want SWAT to roll in APCs on every domestic disturbance, which is both ridiculously expensive and not the kind of world I think we want to live in.

The sad reality is that some LEOs are going to die in the line of duty, even when they do everything right. I hope his family is well provided for.

 

[Baba Louie]

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Feb-02-Thu-2006/news/5675972.html
What was to have been a proud day for the Metropolitan Police Department on Wednesday ended as one of its darkest.

Fourteen-year police veteran Sgt. Henry Prendes was shot and killed during a domestic violence call, becoming the first Las Vegas police officer in 17 years to be slain in the line of duty.

Prendes, 37, was ambushed as he approached the front door of a house in southwest Las Vegas. The gunman then held police at bay by firing more than 50 rounds from a semiautomatic assault rifle before officers shot and killed him, Young said.

Words are not adequate. A sad day.

 

[444]

Word around the campfire is that the weapon was an SKS.
I missed the press conference by Sheriff Young but someone said he identified the weapon as a MAK90.
"A plainclothes officer with the gang unit was armed with an assault rifle and helped turn the tide."
"His weapon probably saved the day," Young said.




There is NO postitive spin on this, but I have to give the local news media some credit. Even though they are using the phrase "assult rifle" in every sentence they speak, at least they are saying "semiautomatic assult rifle".

 

[gazpacho]

I heard parts of two 911 calls regarding this incident. In the first, a caller reported seeing a man beating a woman with a stick in front of the house. In the second, the woman in question called saying that her boyfriend was violent and beat her. Apparently the purpetrator is a rapper known by the name "Tradegy". I guess he lived up to his billing.

 

[chuckles]

As an addendum to this sad story, a local radio station has set up a donation point at their studio for people to contribute to Sgt Henry Prendes' memorial fund. As of this morning they had collected over $70,000. A news commentator said that people wer lined up all day yesterday, 30-50 at a time to drop money into the box. Mostly $5-20 donations it was reported. Nice to see in this city that can be so hard sometimes. Sad day for the Las Vegas Metropolitian Police Department and the city as a whole. Local news media is already starting to focus on the "assault weapon " side of the story. You would think that the now dead, 22 yo scumbag murderer might garner the "lion's share" of the blame for this.:banghead: