UPDATE: 13 Action News spoke with a valley man who says he was forced to shoot and kill an armed intruder early Saturday morning.
The victim and his girlfriend were too terrified to be identified. They described how the chilling encounter began.
"The door knob turning and turning, and like real light knocks," said the victim.
Suddenly, the young couple realized the intruder was in their apartment. The stranger was wearing a hoodie and swaying back and forth.
He shot/killed armed intruder who @LVMPD says he did not know. The chilling encounter tonight only on @KTNV at 11 pic.twitter.com/FDKFMxWneE
— Mahsa Saeidi (@MahsaKTNV) March 29, 2016
"I said yo buddy...this isn't the right room you're in," said the victim.
The man pointed a gun at the couple.
"I just had my hands up in the air, I was on my knees," said the victim.
The intruder told the man to get down. His girlfriend was in the bed.
"When he ordered me on the ground, it was right there in front of my hand," said the victim.
The victim's gun was under a table, within his reach. That's when the intruder fired a shot, striking the man's girlfriend in the rib.
"I cocked it, and then I just aimed it right at him," said the victim, "I had no choice, we were going to die, he was going to kill us."
The man's girlfriend has since been discharged from the hospital. The couple has left the complex. They say they have no plans to move back.
The coroner identified the deceased as 44-year-old Lacy Howard of Las Vegas.
13 Action News will continue to follow this developing story.
ORIGINAL STORY
A man was killed after police said he forced entry into an apartment early Saturday morning.
It happened around 3 a.m. at the Shelter Island Apartments, near Twain Avenue and Swenson Street.
Homicide detectives determined that two people were inside an apartment when an unknown suspect forced entry into the unit. The suspect was armed with a firearm and confronted both victims. One of the victims was able to retrieve a firearm and fired at the suspect multiple times, hitting him. The suspect shot and injured the second, unarmed victim.
The suspect died of his injuries. The injured victim was transported to the Sunrise Trauma Center for treatment.
Neighbors assume it was an attempted burglary, and say the residents had no choice but to defend themselves.
“My heart goes out to the person that lost their life, but you got to protect yourself and your family," said neighbor Donald Lanehart. "What if kids were in the house, you know?”
One person is dead and another is injured after a shooting at Shelter Island Apartments near Swenson Street and Twain Avenue. Police say the shooting happened inside of a unit on the third floor, after a suspect made entry while two residents were home. Police say one of the residents fired at the suspect, killing him. Neighbors assume it was an attempted burglary and the resident was defending his home.
Posted by Michael Burton on Saturday, March 26, 2016
Neighbor John Gruen says violent crime is a normal part of living at Shelter Island Apartments.
"It's an ongoing thing here," he tells 13 Action News. "This is nothing new."
Gruen blames the managers of the complex for not taking better control.
"Management is aware of what's going on here,” said Gruen. “They have been for the years that I've been here, but they don't want to do anything about it."
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department have called this a homicide investigation and is the 37th such one in 2016.
The identity of the deceased, as well as the cause and manner of death, will be released by the Clark County Coroner’s Office.
Anyone with any information about this incident is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555.
