# Las Vegas Police Shoot and Kill Teen In Handcuffs



## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

*ADRIAN ARAMBULO*
_KLASTV_

Las Vegas Metro Police say a handcuffed 17-year-old murder suspect somehow got away from officers, but murder suspect or not police confirm the teenager was running away from them when they shot and killed him Saturday morning.

As the investigation begins, we are learning more about Metro's "use of force" policy and how the community is reacting.

Most of the people I spoke with in this community are scared. They are scared and they want answers. Police held a news conference Monday afternoon to try to answer some of the questions surrounding the incident.

Detectives Ken Hardy, who's been reported before for delaying in giving Miranda rights to suspects, and Shane Womack arrived at the Brownstowne Apartment complex looking for two teens that are accused of killing 18-year-old Kyle Staheli and leaving his burned body in the desert.

"We eventually took the suspects into custody, one of the subjects who was taken into custody was found to have a .45 caliber handgun in his pocket, he was then handcuffed and placed in one of the detective's vehicles," said Deputy Chief Greg McCurdy.

Police say the suspect, who was seated in the front of the detectives car, somehow manipulated his handcuffs so his hands were in front of him and then got out of the detectives car and started running.

"I understand that the officers out there did issue commands, which we normally try to do, trying to seek assistance, or cooperation is the better word, for the person to stop and comply with police," McCurdy explained. "At that time the officers did give chase, with one of the detectives shooting at Lopez striking him followed by a second officer also firing hitting the suspect."

At this point, police do not have answers to how far the officers were from the suspect, how long it took for them to start shooting, and they will not speculate about what the officers were feeling.

"We still have a lot of work to do to uncover all the facts and circumstances surrounding the events out there Saturday morning," said Undersherrif Doug Gillespie.

Some, who live near where the shooting took place such as Brandy Romero, are worried about what happened and want more answers.

"It was just the fact that my children were there, and that it was carelessness on some of the police's part," Romero said. "Why couldn't they just run him down instead of shooting him?"

According to Metro Police's use of force policy, officers can use deadly force if they are protecting themselves from death or serious bodily harm or if they believe a fleeing suspect would pose a threat to other people if that suspect should escape.

Metro Police are also saying that the officers involved did not use tasers and they still have yet to elaborate any further. However, Metro has placed the two officers on administrative leave pending the investigation.

The only reaction from anyone associated with the dead suspect was a woman who said she was the teen's grandparent. The woman said she feels like her grandchild was murdered.


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## Pacman (Aug 29, 2005)

*Tennessee v. Garner*, 471 U.S. 1 (1985)[1], was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that under the Fourth Amendment, when a law enforcement officer is pursuing a fleeing suspect, they may only use deadly force to prevent escape and the officer has probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or others.

Nuff Said.


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