Suspected burglar fatally shot by police in Las Vegas home identified
The Clark County coroner’s office has identified a suspected burglar who was shot and killed by Las Vegas police early Tuesday in a wealthy southwest valley neighborhood.
The dead man was identified as 40-year-old Nathaniel Sironen.
Metropolitan Police Department Capt. Sasha Larkin said at a Tuesday briefing in the Spanish Hills neighborhood that a man, now believed to be Sironen, was shot as he was “attempting to attack” a homeowner with a hammer,
The shooting happened after police were called about 1:20 a.m. Tuesday to a home on the 5100 block of Spanish Heights Drive, near Tropicana Avenue and the 215 Beltway.
Sironen died at the scene from multiple gunshot wounds, and his death was ruled a homicide, the coroner’s office said Wednesday afternoon.
Larkin said that when police arrived, they saw a man inside with the hammer. It was unclear how he gained access to the home in the gated community with private security.
The homeowner did not know Sironen, Larkin said. Two people were home during the shooting.
Sironen’s death marked the 18th police shooting involving Metro officers this year, and the tenth fatal shooting, according to records maintained by the Review-Journal.
The officers who shot Sironen were placed on routine paid administrative leave and will be identified within 48 hours of the shooting.
Further information was not immediately available.
Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.
