Killing of man by police officer reviewed at public hearing

Las Vegas police have said the man asked to be shot and pulled out a rifle.

Because the district attorney’s office, which investigates all fatal police shootings, decided not to file charges, a public fact-finding review of the case was held Tuesday at the Clark County Government Center.

At about 8:55 p.m. on April 29, Metropolitan Police Department Sgt. Timothy Stovall, 51, shot and killed Jesus Caballero after Stovall said the 38-year-old pointed a rifle at him, police have said.

Detective Jason Leavitt, who was in charge of Metro’s internal investigation into the shooting, said during Tuesday’s hearing that although a loaded magazine was found in Caballero’s car, the rifle was not loaded at the time of the shooting.

Stovall told investigators that when he pulled Caballero over in the far northwest valley, on Apex Road off of Interstate 15, Caballero told him he was having “family problems.”

“He’s still asking me to shoot him, but we have an open dialogue,” Stovall said over the police radio, according to recordings released during Tuesday’s hearing.

Stovall was not wearing a body camera during the shooting, and his unmarked police car did not have dashcam video. Leavitt said plainclothes officers are not required to wear the cameras and that undercover Metro vehicles are not equipped with dashboard cameras.

Leavitt said that during Metro’s internal investigation, he contacted Caballero’s family.

“I did find out that he had been having some family issues, that he had been drinking heavily, that he was upset with the family when he left the residence that night,” the detective said.

An autopsy showed that Caballero, whom police identified as Jesus Caballero-Herrera, had a blood alcohol content that was nearly twice the legal limit for Nevada drivers, Leavitt said. The Clark County coroner’s office ruled his death a homicide due to gunshot wounds.

About 12 minutes before the shooting, Stovall broadcast over the police radio that there was a reckless driver on northbound Interstate 15, near Cheyenne Avenue, police said.

Stovall fired nine times during the shooting, and bullets were found outside Caballero’s car. Leavitt confirmed during the hearing that the location of the bullets suggested that Caballero was standing outside the vehicle when he was shot.

Terry Jackson, who was serving as the ombudsman representing the public and Caballero’s family during the hearing, asked Leavitt if Stovall would have attempted to get the driver out of his car “if he thought he was dangerous.”

“I could only speak to the fact of what I personally would do, and I personally would not want to approach that vehicle by myself in such a remote area, not knowing what it is that I was walking up to,” Leavitt said.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.