LAS VEGAS - Police fired seven shots at a suspect near Smoke Ranch Road and Rainbow Boulevard Sunday – killing him. A neighbor caught the alarming sound of the fatal round on his cell phone.
It's the 12th deadly officer shooting this year, and it prompted a news conference from Metro Sheriff Doug Gillespie.
"Allow us to connect the dots. Allow us to do the interviews that are necessary, then we can come back and talk," he said.
Police responded to a call for an attempted break-in Sunday night. When they arrived, the suspect, Stanly Gibson, was gone.
He later returned, argued with police and tried to take off in his car. Officers pinned the vehicle between at least two squad cars and tried negotiating with Gibson for 30 minutes before opening fire.
"(The) suspect's vehicle was running, and he was spinning his tires in attempts to remove himself from being pinned in," Sheriff Gillespie said.
The sheriff, who usually defers to a coroner's inquest to get the facts of an officer-involved shooting case, says he has no choice but to start addressing the media when his agency uses deadly force and let the public know what happened.
"I want answers as much as you," he said. "I'm here to tell you that I've always had great concerns about how we improve our methods of preventing these incidents."
After mounting criticism, major changes were made last year to the coroner's inquest system. Some officers challenged the changes in court – prompting a freeze in coroner's inquests while the legal proceedings play out.
"I want the community to know that I am there to ask those tough questions of my agency under these circumstances, and I will do just that," Sheriff Gillespie said.
The officers involved in Sunday's deadly shooting have 72 hours to provide complete details to internal investigators about what happened. The sheriff says when that happens, he'll be able to provide more answers.
