Officers fired 92 shots at man, killing him, after he raised gun
Seven police officers fired 92 shots at a Las Vegas man tied to a four-vehicle crash, killing him, a North Las Vegas Police Department spokesperson said in a video briefing released Thursday night.
Officer Brian Thomas said officers shot and killed the man, identified by the Clark County coroner’s office as Las Vegas resident Julian McCoy, 57, on Saturday while responding to a crash at the intersection of Craig Road and North Fifth Street.
Witnesses called police after McCoy drove north on Fifth Street through a stoplight and collided with vehicles on Craig Road, which was also captured by nearby security cameras, Thomas said in the video briefing.
Witnesses told police in several 911 calls shared by the department that McCoy had a gun, including one caller who claimed McCoy threatened someone who approached his car.
“One of the people that went up to his car to see if he was OK — he pointed a gun at them,” one caller said.
In another call, a man tells police dispatch, “The guy who caused the accident apparently has a gun on him, so we don’t want to approach him.”
Thomas said McCoy began threatening police once they arrived on scene, and officers attempted to de-escalate the situation by asking McCoy to drop the gun and exit his vehicle.
McCoy then “raised the firearm” toward police, and seven officers shot a combined 92 times at McCoy, striking him several times.
Medical personnel pronounced McCoy dead at the scene.
The officers who shot at McCoy included Officers Darren Rigsby, Alexandre Chevalier, Logan Guerin, Christopher Dellorco, Timothy Barns, Rodrigo Garcia and Robert Ryan, who have all been placed on paid administrative leave, Thomas said.
Garcia fired the most shots during the incident, with 26, followed by Ryan with 17 shots, Dellorco with 15, Barns with 11, Chevalier with 7 and Rigsby with 3, according to police.
Body-worn camera video
In one body-worn camera video, an off-screen officer tells McCoy to come out of his car with his hands up. “You do not want to push this,” the officer is heard saying seconds before several officers begin shooting into the car.
McCoy’s hand can be seen holding a gun, later identified as Browning BL-22 .22 caliber long rifle, inside the car in the video, which is visible through the car’s open front passenger window.
In another video, several officers can be heard yelling “drop the gun” at McCoy before shooting into the car.
After shots are fired, the off-screen officer asks McCoy again to exit the car with his hands up. Officers can be heard telling McCoy to “drop it.” About a minute later, several officers are seen approaching the car.
Thomas said police later found 15 bullets inside the car, along with alcohol and drug paraphernalia. McCoy’s preliminary toxicology screening tested positive for cocaine, ethanol, fentanyl and methamphetamine.
McCoy also had a criminal history dating back to 1987, and had been charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, domestic battery, strangulation, kidnapping, and several counts of theft, among other charges, Thomas said. He was also on felony probation in Nevada for a previous theft conviction.
Thomas asked anyone with information about the incident to contact North Las Vegas police at 702-633-9111.
Contact Taylor Lane at tlane@reviewjournal.com.