Las Vegas police have released imagery showing an officer fatally shoot a sword-wielding man lunging toward an officer who had tried to calm down the man during an encounter in an apartment complex
2 min read
LAS VEGAS — Las Vegas police have released imagery showing an officer fatally shoot a sword-wielding man lunging toward an officer who had tried to calm down the man during an encounter in an apartment complex.
Assistant Sheriff Brett Zimmerman said during a news briefing Friday that police during previous encounters with Justin Charland had arranged for the 40-year-old man to receive mental health assistance.
The fatal encounter occurred Tuesday when two officers responded to a report of a man yelling and talking to himself.
Body-camera footage released during the briefing showed the man identified by police as Charland holding a large sword at the top of his apartment’s exterior stairs and yelling loudly while Officer Vincen Segura asked to speak with Charland and to get him help.
The man after a few minutes bounded down the stairs while brandishing the sword despite Segura’s calls for him to put down the weapon. As the officer and Charland both spoke loudly, Charland could be heard saying he was a ninja. Zimmerman said Charland also said he was going to kill the officers.
The video showed Segura backing up away from the approaching man who then lunged forward with the sworn in front of him and toward the officers.
“Don’t come at me with that …,” Segura shouted to Charland before the man approached within a few yards of the officer.
Segura fired, fatally wounding Charland, whom Zimmerman said would have been arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and resisting with a deadly weapon if he had survived.
A police statement said a police team was investigating the officer’s use of force and that the findings would be forwarded to the Clark County District Attorney’s Office for review.
A different police team was examining the incident for a review focused on policy, tactics and training, the statement said.
