LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Two Metro officers, Ty Vesperas and Jacob Noriega, who helped save the life of a UNLV shooting victim last December, shared their perspective on the incident. Officer Vesperas expressed, "This job is, was, my dream job. I always wanted to help people and that was an accomplishment in and of itself."
Officer Noriega, along with Vesperas, assisted the sole surviving victim from the deadly UNLV campus shooting. Noriega described their actions, stating, "Once we saw that he was in need of assistance, we put a tourniquet on him. As he was standing up, he started to pass out while standing up, so we laid him down and we were able to apply the tourniquet."
The officers credited Metro's emergency medical training for their ability to render aid. Noriega added, "We aren't paramedics, but our training with MACTAC, we come mandatory once a year, and they go over this."
Three other professors were fatally wounded that day. The officers' actions were hailed as heroic. Dr. Andrew Priest, Campus President of Touro University, highlighted their support, stating, "We've been able to supply and train just about all of the metro officers who are employed, and as the new ones come in, they get trained.”
Metro Sheriff Kevin McMahill confirmed the value of the medical contribution, revealing that officers applied 10 tourniquets, 5 emergency bandages, and gauze to serious wounds. Sheriff McMahill said, "We've actually gotten so far into this mindset, that after we have shot someone, in an armed encounter between mine and the suspect, we put the gun away and went and saved the suspect's life."
Reflecting on their actions that deadly day in December, Officers Vespera and Noriega stayed with the UNLV instructor until they could get him to the hospital. Officer Noriega recounted, "I ended up picking him up and putting him in the back of my patrol vehicle, and we drove him out to medical at Harmon and Maryland."
After the tragedy, both officers said they kept in contact with the survivor, who did not want to be identified. Noriega shared, "We tried to check on him and the following week see how he's doing ok, but also the family life, make sure everything is good at home."
