Murder, carjacking suspect dies after shootout with police in southwest valley

A man who went on an early morning murderous, carjacking rampage Wednesday died after a miles-long police pursuit and shootout with officers, Las Vegas police said.

The man, described by police only as having been in his 30s, first shot and killed his mother near the home he grew up in before fatally shooting a person he carjacked several miles away, according to the Metropolitan Police Department.

The reign of terror began at about 3:45 a.m. when police received reports of gunshots near Placid Street and Maulding Avenue.

The suspect had left his parents’ nearby house, where he had grown up, amid a dispute, Metro Lt. Jason Johansson said.

Soon after, shots were fired. After hearing the shots, the man’s mother and father drove over to a nearby wash area, near Placid and Maulding, to look for their son.

When the man’s parents arrived at the wash, their son shot at them, hitting his mother. She was then found dead in the wash by officers, Johansson said.

Upon arriving at the scene, officers also heard shots, but they didn’t know where they were coming from, a Metro news release said.

Officers noticed that a police patrol vehicle, which was unoccupied at the time, had been struck by gunshots.

Officers, taking cover, then tried to “set up containment around the area,” but the man “broke through” and got into an unoccupied police vehicle and drove off, the news release said.

Police then gave chase before the man abandoned the police vehicle and stole a truck at gunpoint almost nine miles away in the 7300 block of South Durango Drive, police said.

The pursuit continued to the 8500 block of Blue Diamond Road, where the man then abandoned the stolen truck and carjacked an SUV, Metro Capt. Joshua Martinez told reporters.

The suspect fired at least one shot, police said, and an officer also fired his gun before the man fled in the SUV, Martinez said.

“The officer noticed the firearm and the threat to the citizen and discharged his duty weapon,” Martinez said.

Police pursued the SUV to the area of Durango Drive and Windmill Lane before the suspect jumped out and pointed a firearm at someone in a van.

Officers heard a gunshot and watched the suspect pull a victim out of the vehicle before he fled again as police fired.

The victim from the van was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

“Officers witnessed the citizen in the vehicle being removed, and was injured,” Martinez said. “The suspect fled in the citizen’s vehicle that he carjacked.”

Both Metro police and Nevada State Police officers fired shots at the vehicle as it fled, the police news release said. Martinez said multiple shots struck the vehicle.

The pursuit ended at Durango and Agate Avenue where the carjacked vehicle “became disabled,” Martinez said.

It wasn’t clear if any of the shots fired by police struck the suspect, or, if any did, if any of those shots were what killed the suspect. Police said in the news release that SWAT officers approached the van and saw that the suspect was injured.

He was then pronounced dead at the scene.

Martinez said no officers were injured.

Johansson said police were still trying to determine what led to the dispute between the man and his parents.

A ‘surreal’ scene

Yvette Bravo, 49, and her daughter Alysa Bravo, 20, said they were in their house near the corner of Durango and Agate at about 5 a.m. when a SWAT officer armed with a rifle knocked at their door and asked to enter so that he could use the master bedroom window — which had a view of the suspect inside a white van — as a vantage point.

Two other SWAT officers joined him, with five family members inside, including Yvette Bravo and her husband’s three children who range in age from 15 to 24.

The officers were courteous and apologized and stayed in the house for about 40 minutes, Yvetter Bravo said.

Yvette Bravo said she heard two bangs, while Alysa Bravo heard one. They weren’t sure if those were flashbangs or gunshots, and if they were gunshots, whether they came from the officers inside their home.

“I’m not sure if they shot him from our bedroom window,” Yvette Bravo said.

In photos and video provided by Yvette Bravo, in-home security footage showed the officers in the home, as well as the dead man in the driver’s seat of the white van. There is a large hole in the front passenger side window.

“It’s surreal,” Yvette Bravo said.

“I felt like, honestly, it wasn’t real,” Alysa Bravo said. “You don’t see this everyday.”

A Metro police vehicle that appeared to have been struck by gunfire sat parked at Blue Diamond and Durango surrounded by crime scene tape.

Across the street, a Circle K at 8545 Blue Diamond Road was cordoned off by crime scene tape. A blue truck sat in front of the store for hours with the driver’s side door open.

The identities of the three dead, including the shooter, his mother, and the carjacking victim, hadn’t yet been released Wednesday.

It was Metro’s ninth police shooting of 2023, police said. Police said the identities of the officers involved in the shooting would be released after 48 hours.

Contact David Wilson at dwilson@reviewjournal.com. Contact Brett Clarkson at bclarkson@reviewjournal.com. Review-Journal Director of Social Media Caitlin Lilly contributed to this report.