LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is identifying the officers involved in a Saturday shooting, which left a man dead.
The incident happened on Saturday just before 3 a.m. in the 3900 block of Landsdown Place.
According to police, officers arrived and located a man with a knife. Investigators said they asked him to drop the knife but the man, later identified as 51-year-old Robert Pitcher, refused. That's when officers opened fire, striking and killing Pitcher.
On Monday, the department identified those officers as Philippe Dinh, Oscar Nuno-Reynoso, and Kyle Corso.
Officer Dinh is 29 years old and has been with LVMPD since 2021. Offier Nuno-Reynoso is 22 years old and has been employed with LVMPD since 2022. Officer Corso is 34 years old and has been employed with LVMPD since 2021.
Channel 13 spoke with Pitcher's mother, Fran Mastorcova, who said her son was going through a mental health crisis and needed help. That's because just over a month ago, his son passed away. His son died on Oct. 12 and his memorial was on Nov. 22.
"My son was not doing that well and just saying things that really worried me," Mastorcova said. "He wanted to hurt himself. He was in bad shape."
She told Channel 13 that she called a non-emergency number for a welfare check after Pitcher went missing in the middle of the night. She called the incident "an assassination".
"If they knew it was for a wellness check, why weren't they prepared," she said. "They were supposed to save him."
Mastorcova said Pitcher will be laid to rest with his son.
The three officers have been placed on routine paid administrative leave pending the outcome of a review of the incident, according to LVMPD.
