Coroner says shots to back killed man in scuffle

A California man killed Thursday by a Las Vegas police officer in a fast-food restaurant died of three shots in the back, the coroner’s office reported Friday.

The 27-year-old man, whose name has not been released, was armed with a loaded .38-caliber pistol during a scuffle with two police officers in the Kentucky Fried Chicken at 2840 E. Tropicana Ave., police said.

The man, from Long Beach, Calif., was hit three times in the back from one officer’s 9mm service revolver, with the bullets resting in his chest and abdomen, a coroner’s official said.

The shooting occurred about 6:30 p.m., after police arrived at the restaurant in answer to a disturbance call. Police said the man refused to pay for his food, and patrons reported he was stealing food from their plates.

After the two officers entered the restaurant, the man got up from a booth, both hands in his pockets, and started to walk toward them, according to police. He refused the officers’ request to take his hands out of his pockets as he approached, police said.

Each officer then grabbed his arms to lift them out of his pockets. As they removed his right arm, they saw a gun in his hand and tried to disarm him, police said.

A struggle ensued, during which the man pointed his gun at the officers, police said. Police said he was ordered to drop the gun but refused. One of the officers then fired four shots at the man, hitting him three times.

Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.

Police on Friday declined to release the names of the officers involved in the shooting.

Both officers are on paid administrative leave pending an investigation by the police homicide division and internal affairs bureau.

A coroner’s inquest, required when police are involved in a civilian’s death, will take place Jan. 17 or Jan. 18, police said.

This is the second fatal shooting involving a Metro officer in less than a week.

On Monday, Jeffrey D. Holden, 37, was shot and killed near the Showboat Hotel by officer Steve Kircher, 26.

Police said Holden was trying to run down Kircher with a stolen car to escape arrest when the shooting occurred.

A coroner’s inquest into that shooting is set for Friday.