Metro identifies officer, suspected kidnapper in fatal southeast shooting
A man fatally shot by police Tuesday led a woman on a four-mile walk through southeast Las Vegas after kidnapping her at gunpoint, according to new details released Thursday.
Mario Martinez, 43, of Las Vegas was killed by Metropolitan Police Department officer Ramon Heistand, 35, around 11 a.m. in an alley near East Charleston Boulevard and Sloan Lane, the department announced.
Officers were initially called at 9:33 a.m. to an apartment complex on the 5600 block of West Lake Mead Boulevard after a man reported his girlfriend was abducted at gunpoint by her ex-boyfriend, Assistant Sheriff Andrew Walsh told reporters Thursday. The man told police the ex-boyfriend had been harassing the couple. When Martinez arrived at the apartment Tuesday morning, he fired two shots at the couple’s door before kicking it in.
Police found Martinez nearly two hours later entering a shopping complex four miles from the apartment, Walsh said. He was carrying a semi-automatic 9mm handgun.
Surveillance footage released Thursday showed Martinez attempting to steal a car in a drive-thru near Sloan and Charleston. He was unsuccessful and continued to walk through the parking lot, attempting to steal two more cars before entering an Albertsons, Walsh said.
Footage from the Albertsons showed Martinez was still holding the woman by her neck and holding the gun in the air inside the store.
“It’s kind of sad when you see a victim being dragged around at gunpoint and we don’t get more calls than we got,” Walsh said. “We got some but not the amount that you would think we got.”
A video camera from a police helicopter captured Martinez exiting the back of the store into an alley where he unsuccessfully tried to steal a delivery truck.
“While all this was happening, responding officers were setting up containment around the shopping center, and as Martinez was making his way westbound toward Sloan a team of officers was already posted in the alley,” Walsh said.
Heistand’s body camera footage showed that he was waiting in the alley with several other officers, hiding behind the delivery truck and a Metro SUV, before he fired eight rounds from a .223 caliber rifle.
“If I get a clean shot I’m going to take it,” Heistand said.
He fired once, ran behind the Metro vehicle and could be heard firing seven more shots.
Martinez died at the scene from gunshot wounds to the chest.
Walsh said Martinez had no prior history of domestic violence charges related to the woman he abducted.
”It’s really a nightmare scenario of a mobile hostage situation,” Walsh said. “Thankfully, the citizen that was kidnapped was not hurt and thankfully none of our officers were hurt and no other citizens were hurt … The suspect dictated the actions of our officers.”
Heistand had been employed with Metro since 2014. He was placed on routine paid administrative leave while the shooting is investigated.
Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter. Review-Journal staff writer Jonah Dylan contributed to this report.