LAS VEGAS (AP) – Police said Monday that a suspect in custody in a Las Vegas hospital emergency room was fatally shot by an officer after the man was left alone and lifted a stun gun out of a jail guard’s bag that had been left near the suspect.
The unidentified man had been arrested on a felony arrest warrant and was taken to University Medical Center because he was incoherent after his arrest and could not be kept in jail, Las Vegas police Capt. Kelly McMahill said.
The 4:15 a.m. shooting happened when a hospital security officer and a nurse entered the small room where the suspect was and the suspect pointed the stun gun at him, McMahill said.
The security officer left the room to get help and found a police officer who went into the room and saw the man pointing the stun gun at the nurse. The officer fired once as the suspect was turning toward him, McMahill said.
McMahill did not say whether the security officer was armed when entered the room. Security video reviewed by investigators showed the suspect taking the stun gun from the guard’s bag, McMahill said.