North Las Vegas police investigating shooting involving officer
A North Las Vegas Police Department officer shot a man that police said was arming himself with a gun.
Officers were first called about 6 p.m. Friday on reports of a disturbance involving a 34-year-old man on the 4200 block of West Galapagos Avenue, near Deer Springs and Aviary ways, but determined no crime had been committed.
They returned to the same address about 7 p.m. to investigate reports of shots fired inside a home. When North Las Vegas police arrived, they found the same man, identified as Antonio Aquino, refusing to come out of the home, department spokesman Eric Leavitt said.
Aquino refused to cooperate with the officers, Leavitt said.
“Moments later, the officer saw Aquino arming himself with a firearm,” he said. The officer fire at least once, shooting Aquino.
An hourslong standoff followed the shooting, according to Leavitt. Aquino surrendered to the department’s SWAT team about 3:30 a.m., and he was transported to University Medical Center with survivable injuries. Leavitt said during the barricade, Aquino was acting erratically and may have injured himself on broken glass.
He was released from the hospital and taken to Las Vegas Detention Center, where he was booked on counts of assault with a deadly weapon and firing a gun where a person might be endangered.
No officers were injured during the shooting or barricade, police said.
This is the North Las Vegas Police Department’s first shooting this year.
The 27-year-old officer who fired has been with the department since November 2016. The officer is on paid leave, and the officer’s name will be released after 48 hours.
Contact Rio Lacanlale at rlacanlale@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Follow @riolacanlale on Twitter. Review-Journal staff writer Mike Shoro contributed to this report.
