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Teen Killed By Las Vegas Police Had Been Banned From Apartment

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Police in Las Vegas say an 18-year-old who was shot and killed by a SWAT sniper had been freed from jail on GPS monitoring after his arrest on a burglary charge and had been banned from an apartment where he fired a gun before police arrived.

 

Officers followed Roosevelt Brown with guns drawn as he walked through a West Las Vegas neighborhood during an hourslong standoff early Saturday morning that Clark County Assistant Sheriff Charles Hank said became more tense as area residents streamed it live on the internet.

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"Obviously we cannot stop someone from doing this," the police official told reporters on Tuesday. "But ... what's more important? Displaying a tense situation on social media? Or being socially responsible?"

 

Two shots had been fired during an argument at the apartment before police were called about 5 a.m., Hank said. Brown had been ordered by a judge not to contact a woman at the apartment. No one in the residence was injured.

 

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Hank aired officer body camera video showing Brown pointing a 9mm handgun toward police officers moments before he was shot.

 

The teen had taunted and threatened officers, Hank said, and tried to open apartment doors as he walked through the neighborhood with the gun.

Police found no bullets in Brown's gun after he was shot, Hank said. Brown was pronounced dead at a hospital.

 

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The officer who shot Brown, 12-year department veteran Jonathan Collingwood, was put on paid leave pending department and district attorney reviews of the shooting.