Man who shot Las Vegas police officer sentenced to prison
From behind the bench Wednesday, in a courtroom filled with police officers, District Judge William Kephart berated the Las Vegas man who had shot a Metropolitan Police Department officer in the chest in 2015.
“I heard the facts here, and I heard the facts that you tried to portray,” he told Teag Fox. “I didn’t buy that at all.”
He sentenced Fox to 11 to 40 years in prison.
“If you have any disputes with a police officer, you bring it to the courts. ” Kephart said. “Don’t shoot at him and come in here and expect that you’re going to get some special treatment.”
He pointed out that Fox was a former military man, whose mother worked in law enforcement. He told the 40-year-old Teag that his right to a fair trial came because people in uniform had fought for that right.
“That’s what so offensive to me,” Kephart said. “What you have in your background,” he said.
Fox approached Las Vegas Metropolitan officer Gregory Sedminik while he was responding to an unrelated domestic disturbance call on Las Vegas Boulevard South in December 2015, prosecutors said. Sedminik was shot three times.
Chief Deputy District Attorney John Giordani asked Wednesday that Fox get the maximum sentence, 24 to 61 years in prison for attempted murder with use of a deadly weapon, battery with use of a deadly weapon resulting in substantial bodily harm and discharging a firearm into a structure.
Sedminik was “within millimeters of dying that day simply because he was wearing a badge and doing what he was sworn to do,” Giordani said. “(Fox) is a danger to society. He is a danger to everyone in this room who wears a badge.”
Sedminik, who came to court in uniform, stepped up to testify. He demonstrated where a bullet had entered his upper arm, continued through his armpit, into his chest and out his back.
That shot had barely missed a major artery, Sedminik said. He suffered a bruised lung and broken ribs. As he spoke Wednesday, his wife choked back tears.
Sedminik theorized why he was shot.
“(It’s) because I wear this uniform. Because I’m a police officer, and I’m proud of it. I’ve worn it for over 20 years.”
Sedminik added, “Under this uniform, there’s a father, a son, a husband, a brother.”
“I’m hoping he gets the maximum, he tried to take my life,” he said. “I’m in constant pain in my arm, I’ve got numbness, I got issues. My family went through a lot of emotions.”
Fox’s attorney Michael Sanft had argued self-defense and said his client will appeal.
Sandt said although officers did their job that day in finding the shooter, questions remain.
“Why would an individual with no criminal history whatsoever would pull out his gun and start firing at the place that he lives?” The defense attorney asked. “That to me boggles my mind.”
Fox said, “I’m sorry to the police officer, and I’m sorry to the police.”
He had a request for the judge.
“I’ve seen you give plenty of people a second chance, and that’s what I’m asking for,” he said. “I did not shoot first. It was just a reaction.”
Too much reaction and too little thought can be dangerous, Kephart suggested.
“Every time they (police) go out on the street, they put their lives in the hands of some crazy person.”
Contact Briana Erickson at berickson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5244. Follow @brianarerick on Twitter.
