Police in Las Vegas said Friday that a 50-year-old man shot and killed on the porch of a second-story apartment by an officer with a rifle had been shooting randomly at people and vehicles and fired a shot before pointing a gun toward officers.
William Thomas Holt Jr. died in the Tuesday evening shooting that left at least six vehicles with bullet holes but no other people injured in a densely populated rental complex east of downtown, Assistant Clark County Sheriff Brett Zimmerman told reporters.
Body-camera video showed Metro Police Officer Erik Lindberg sighting a tactical rifle around the corner of a wall, firing two shots, squinting through a viewing scope and reporting that the man with a rifle had collapsed in the doorway of the apartment more than 50 yards away.
“We didn’t have time to end it peacefully because of (Holt’s) actions,” Zimmerman said.
The first officers to arrive after reports of gunfire arrested three men, including one with a handgun who told officers that a man had started shooting at them and that he fired his gun in return.
Police don’t know what prompted Holt to begin shooting before officers arrived, Zimmerman said.
The three men were later released and were not charged with a crime. Zimmerman said the man’s handgun was legally owned and his actions were deemed to be self-defense.
Officers taking positions around Holt’s apartment to await crisis negotiation and SWAT units saw Holt fire one shot, go inside and emerge with another rifle, Zimmerman said.
Video shown Friday was from officers who had taken cover, and Holt was not seen.
Investigators later determined that one of Holt’s rifles malfunctioned, Zimmerman said. Both weapons were found next to his body in the apartment doorway.
Lindberg, a Metro officer since 2014, is on paid administrative leave pending departmental and district attorney reviews of the shooting.
The shooting was the fourth involving Las Vegas police this year, and the second killing. At this time last year, Las Vegas police were involved in six shootings, including two deaths, Zimmerman said.