HENDERSON (KTNV) — A 19-year-old was arrested in Henderson on Tuesday after he cut up his own bed with an axe and set his parents' house on fire, according to an arrest report obtained by 13 Action News.
Henderson police officers fired shots at Mark Ronald Ellsworth after he pointed a rifle at them, according to the report.
Police say Ellsworth's mother called 911 just before noon on Tuesday to report that her son "was having a mental breakdown" and had cut his bed apart with an axe. She left the residence near College and Paradise Hills drives and went to nearby Mannion Middle School to call 911, the report states.
Ellsworth's mother advised police that "if officers show up, Mark will fight with officers until they kill him," the report states. Officers were also informed Ellsworth had access to a shotgun.
As officers set up a perimeter around the residence, they saw black smoke coming from the home, according to the report. At the same time, new 911 calls came in reporting that the home was on fire.
Three Henderson police officers were "attempting to make contact with Mark over the rear wall" of the home when Ellsworth exited "with a long rifle in his hands and pointed it in the direction" of the officers, according to the report.
Two of the officers fired their weapons in Ellsworth's direction, and he went back inside the house, police stated. Ellsworth soon came back out of the home without the gun, and he was taken into custody.
According to police, Ellsworth invoked his Miranda rights and declined to answer investigators' questions.
He was booked into Henderson Detention Center for one count of first-degree arson and four counts of assault on a protected person with a deadly weapon.
