LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — New details about what led up to a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police officer shooting a man in a northwest valley home on Friday night were revealed Monday.
Asst. Sheriff Jamie Prosser shared audio from a 911 call and body-worn camera footage in a media briefing detailing the investigation so far.
At last update, the man was said to be in critical condition after he was shot by a Metro police officer on Friday night at a residence in the 2100 block of Valley Drive, near Lake Mead Boulevard and Rancho Drive.
Officer Vladimir Butler, 29, was placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal review of the incident.
The man, since identified as Dusty Porter, was armed with a knife and threatening to hurt his sister when she called 911 at approximately 8:55 p.m., Prosser said. She had shut herself in a bathroom, telling dispatchers Porter was following her from room to room, armed with a kitchen knife, and would not let her leave the house.
Since Porter was said to be armed, what's known as a "star protocol" was initiated on the call, Prosser said.
"Star protocol is often generated when there’s a danger like an armed subject, and it allows dispatch to send multiple officers, including a supervisor, who can often help slow things down in those situations," Prosser explained.
Officers arriving at the home "began to have a dialogue with Porter from outside the residence," Prosser said.
Prosser said the officers decided to make an emergency entry into the home after trying for several minutes to de-escalate the situation. When they entered, Porter ran through a bedroom and locked himself in the bathroom with the victim, she said.
Body-worn camera video from the incident showed Porter raising the knife as he shut himself in the bedroom before officers kicked down the door.
On the 911 call, a man can be heard screaming "shoot me!" as dispatchers ask the victim to explain what is happening.
The video shows Porter run into the bedroom and shut the door. Officers kick open the door and Porter can be seen briefly, holding the knife, before he disappears from view. "Get the Taser, get the Taser," one of the officers says.
Then, the woman screams as another door slams out of view.
"We gotta go!" an officer says. They rush into the room and begin kicking open the bathroom door. Porter is seen briefly before Butler fires one shot, striking him. Prosser did not say where the bullet hit.
Other officers used a Taser to take Porter into custody, the assistant sheriff said, and tended to his injuries as they waited for medical personnel.
Prosser said initiating the star protocol enabled the officers to slow down and plan before entering a scenario that requires them to make split-second decisions.
"You've got to take in the totality of the whole situation," she said. "They did an amazing job, lots of restraint attempting to de-escalate the situation, however when he makes entry into that bathroom, and now he has his sister held hostage, he's made numerous threats that he's going to kill her, kill himself, force officers to kill him — it was such a dynamic situation, and our officers had to take in all of that."
She said the body-worn camera footage demonstrates the pre-planning that went into the officers' actions.
"They obviously decided who was going to utilize which tool, they knew to have a Taser available. It was unfortunate that he was able to get into that bathroom before we were able to use the Taser when we entered the bedroom," Prosser said. "It's one of those situations that our officers are unfortunately placed into on a regular basis where they have to make these split-second decisions, but luckily, because of our training and the ability to slow the momentum, to pre-plan, to come up with who's going to do what and how we're going to enter, it gives us a little bit more time."
Porter was hospitalized at University Medical Center after the shooting. He was booked into the Clark County Detention Center in absentia on charges of first-degree kidnapping with use of a deadly weapon and resisting an officer with a deadly weapon.
Butler has been employed with LVMPD since 2017 and is assigned to the Community Policing Division of the Northwest Area Command.
