Suspect wounded in officer-involved shooting in central Las Vegas

Las Vegas police shot a man Wednesday night after he rammed several vehicles — including two patrol cars — while trying to evade police in the central valley.

Just after 8:50 p.m., officers found a white U-Haul truck that had evaded police a few days earlier parked in a convenience store parking lot on the 3600 block of Paradise Road, south of Desert Inn Road, according to the Metropolitan Police Department.

When police approached the truck, the driver put the vehicle in reverse, ramming one of the patrol vehicles, Capt. Nicole Splinter said at a media briefing early Thursday. The man then put the car in drive and hit a second patrol car before speeding north on Paradise Road toward Karen Avenue.

As he fled, an officer who was inside the first patrol vehicle fired at the U-Haul, striking the suspect at least once, said Splinter. The driver’s condition was not known Thursday although police said his injuries were not life-threatening.

Here’s a briefing from @LVMPD Capt. Nichole Splinter at the scene: #RJnow pic.twitter.com/apPzH2a6ZB

— Katelyn Newberg (@k_newberg) August 8, 2019

The driver crashed into two more cars near Paradise and Karen before exiting the truck and running away. He was taken into custody a short time later and taken to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, according to Metro.

Police have not said why officers had attempted to stop the truck during the previous encounter.

The shooting was the 12th time this year that a Metro officer opened fire on a suspect. Four were deadly, including one that ended in suicide, according to records maintained by the Review-Journal.

At the same time last year, the same records show, Metro had investigated 13 police shootings — nine of which were deadly, including two that ended by suicide.

The officer who shot the man Wednesday will be identified within 48 hours, and further details and body camera footage are expected to be released within 72 hours, per Metro protocol.

Anyone with information may contact Metro’s force investigation team at 702-828-8452, or, to remain anonymous, Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555.

Wednesday’s shooting came one day after a Henderson police officer shot an unarmed 15-year-old boy suspected of robbing a 7-Eleven.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter. Review-Journal staff writer Rio Lacanlale contributed to this report.

This story has been updated to reflect the correct total of deadly police shootings as of Aug. 7, 2019.