Henderson officer fired 16 rounds at unarmed man, police say

A police officer fired 16 rounds at a man suspected of an attempted kidnapping this month near the Galleria at Sunset mall, according to information released Thursday by the Henderson Police Department.

Officer Scott Alward fired 16 rounds, striking David Flores Jr., 35, seven times Oct. 15 after Flores allegedly drove away from police following an attempted robbery and kidnapping near North Boulder Highway and East Lake Mead Parkway, the police department said.

Officers were called around 6:10 p.m. to the intersection after a report that a man, later identified by police as Flores, held a gun to a man’s head and demanded he get in his car, but the victim had escaped, the department said.

The victim told police that Flores said he was from California, just got out of jail and wasn’t planning to hurt the victim, but he kept a handgun on his lap while driving.

During the briefing Thursday night, police released body-worn camera footage from Alward and dash-cam video that showed Flores driving away from officers down Boulder Highway for about 3 miles before he blew both front tires, struck another car in an intersection and then tried to leave his SUV behind in the intersection.

Alward reported that Flores had a gun in his hand while he drove, but investigators determined later that he was unarmed when he was shot, police said

A .45-caliber handgun and a magazine were found on the road after the shooting, and another fully loaded magazine was found in Flores’ car, police said

Police later determined that after the first victim jumped out of the car, the suspect attempted to rob an 80-year-old man nearby.

“We were sitting there having chicken nuggets behind there and some guy got out of his car,” the man told dispatch about 15 minutes after the attempted robbery. “I thought he was going to ask for directions. He come over and stuck a gun in my face.”

The 80-year-old told the man, who police say was Flores, that he didn’t have money, and Flores drove away only to be found by officers moments later, police said.

Alward was placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

He was previously placed on administrative leave after a shooting in August 2019 when Alward fired one round at an unarmed 15-year-old in an attempted robbery. Henderson police later found the shooting “reasonable and justified,” officers told the Review-Journal.

Flores is being held without bail on charges of kidnapping with a deadly weapon, robbery with a deadly weapon, attempted robbery with a deadly weapon, assault on a protected person with a deadly weapon, driver disobeying a peace officer, possession of a firearm with an altered serial number.

Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter.