Man shot at by Henderson police was having breakdown, mother says

A man who was shot at by Henderson police was in the midst of a mental breakdown, his mother told police, according to a report released Wednesday.

Mark Ellsworth, 19, was booked into the Henderson Detention Center on Tuesday on four counts of assault on a protected person and one count of arson, according to jail records.

Ellsworth’s mother called police around 11:55 a.m. that day to say her son was having a mental breakdown and had cut his bed apart with an axe inside their home on the 700 block of Vista Sereno Court, according to an arrest report from the Henderson Police Department.

The woman met officers at Mannion Middle School, 155 E. Paradise Hills Dr., and warned them that there was a shotgun in the master bedroom and Ellsworth had threatened to set the house on fire, according to the arrest report.

“Mark will fight with officers until they kill him,” the mother told police.

Sgt. Julio Delgado told reporters at the scene Tuesday that Ellsworth had exchanged gunfire with officers, but the arrest report indicated that Ellsworth had pointed a long gun at four officers without firing the weapon.

Two officers, identified Thursday as Sgt. Ronald Feola and Officer Michael Henry, fired at Ellsworth before he surrendered peacefully.

Feola fired two shots while Henry fired one, according to the arrest report.

Feola has been with the department since 2006 while Henry has been with the department since 2020. Both are on paid leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

Ellsworth is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday morning in Henderson Justice Court.

Firefighters also responded to the home Tuesday for a reported fire, but police did not detail the extent of the damage.

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