Following a foot chase and stand-off, a Las Vegas SWAT officer fatally shot an armed gunman who had taken a woman hostage in a trailer park on the city’s northeast side.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department spokesperson Capt. Nichole Splinter said the incident began at about 9:15 a.m. on Aug. 10, when police received a call about a man “attempting to start trees and cars on fire.” Police dispatched to the scene encountered the man — who authorities later identified as Joshua Squires, 32 — in the area of Nellis Boulevard and Gowan Road.
“The suspect took off running, and an officer [whose body-cam was on during the chase] took off on foot pursuit of the individual,” Splinter said. “As he continued to pursue this individual, the suspect reached into his waistband and pulled out a black handgun and turned and pointed it at our officer.” Splinter said the officer fired once at Squires, but did not hit him.
From there, Squires entered a mobile home in the Storeyville Manufactured Home Community on Nellis Boulevard.
“There were multiple subjects inside,” Splinter said. “All of them came out, except for a female who stated [Squires] would not allow her to leave. It appeared he was attempting to barricade inside of that mobile home.”
The incident then became a hostage-rescue situation and a SWAT team was called in. For more than two hours, SWAT officers tried to get Squires to surrender, but he refused. The SWAT team subsequently decided to storm the mobile home, “at which time they ended up confronting the still-armed suspect,” says Splinter. “A SWAT officer opened fire [multiple times], striking the suspect, who then fell to the ground and was pronounced dead at the scene.”
The hostage, whose identity was not released, was unharmed.
Splinter said this was the 11th officer-involved shooting in Las Vegas so far this year. Las Vegas has experienced the third-highest number of deadly such shootings of all major cities in the U.S., at 25.5 fatalities per 100,000 residents between 2000 and 2018, according to statistics compiled by Fatal Encounters. The city is topped in the rankings only by St. Louis (36.3/100,000) and Orlando, Florida (28.1/100,000).
(Edited by Matthew Hall and Stephen Gugliociello)
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