An officer shot and killed a suicidal man in police custody in a Las Vegas emergency room Monday after the suspect took a stun gun from a jail guard's bag that was left in a room with him and pointed it at security guard and a nurse, officials say. It was the 17th shooting by police and 10th death so far this year in Las Vegas. Investigators will look into whether the corrections officer violated policies by leaving the suspect alone in the room with the bag, police say. The man killed Monday had been arrested on a felony warrant after he called police and was found unconscious, the AP reports. He was taken to University Medical Center because he was too intoxicated to be kept in jail, police Capt. Kelly McMahill says.
Security videos shows the man removing a stun gun from the unattended equipment bag. When the man pointed the stun gun at a hospital security officer who entered the room with a nurse, the guard left the room to get help and found a police officer, who went into the room and saw the man pointing the stun gun at the nurse, McMahill says. The officer fired one shot as the suspect turned toward him, McMahill says. The man was declared dead shortly afterward. Police did not identify him or the other people involved. McMahill says the man was arrested late Sunday on the warrant for an unspecified charge after he called 911, threatened suicide, said he had a gun, and vowed to "blast it out with cops," McMahill says. Police found him unconscious near a bus stop. (More Las Vegas stories.)