Las Vegas Police Give Details Of Officer Involved Shootings

LAS VEGAS, NV - Las Vegas Metropolitan Police held press conferences on Tuesday addressing two officer involved shootings, both which occurred on Friday, Jan. 26. The two separate incidents left one man dead and hospitalized another with non-life threatening injuries.

OIS #1

LVMPD Assistant Sheriff Brett Zimmerman said police responded to a call of assault battery with a gun, which was reported by a 16-year old male on Friday, Jan. 26 at 12:08 a.m. The 16-year old told officers that his step-father had just shot his mother and fled the scene.

The suspect was identified as Axell Vivas. Police responded and began searching for a Chrysler Sebring with Tennessee license plates, which they located at approximately 2:40 a.m. a short distance from where Vivas had just killed his wife.

Vivas exited his vehicle and began making "suicide by cop" statements while holding a revolver that police later determined belonged to him and held five rounds.

"During that time officers attempted to deescalate the situation and gave Vivas numerous verbal commands to drop the weapon," Zimmerman said. "Vivas was highly agitated, yelling at officers, waving the firearm around, and pointing it in the direction of the officers."

Video taken from a helicopter patrolling the scene shows Vivas taking cover behind his vehicle with the revolver in hand. In bodycam footage simultaneous to the helicopter footage, of one of the officers involved, an officer can be heard in the background attempting to talk Vivas down.

"We can work this out...come on man...let's talk about this...I don't want to hurt you...All I want to do is talk...All I want to do is talk...I don't want to do this...I don't want to...Come on man, please let's talk...I don't want to put you out of your misery, I want to talk...I want to talk...Come on, let's talk," the officer can be heard saying to Vivas before the shooting.

At 2:47 a.m., Vivas pointed his gun towards officers, who then fired upon him. Two officers fired rounds that killed Vivas.

Officer Celina Cruz fired three rounds from a shotgun and Officer Anthony Raymond fired 11 rounds from an AR-15. Vivas was hit once in the hand and twice in the head and was pronounced dead at the scene, Zimmerman said.

Vivas had no prior criminal history. Zimmerman said Vivas and his wife had problems in their marriage before he murdered her, but no reported call to police.

"From what we know it as a domestic violence related homicide," Zimmerman said. "They were married, they had three children in common and she had a child from a previous marriage. From what we know they had no prior calls to the police."

Zimmerman added that the investigation revealed Vivas had recently lost his job.

OIS #2

LVMPD Assistant Sheriff Tim Kelly said officers responded to a report of an altercation between two men near the Stratosphere casino on Las Vegas Blvd. on Friday, Jan. 26 around 11:30 p.m.

Police found 34-year old Justin Blake on the scene armed with a gun resembling a Beretta handgun that was later determined to be a BB gun, Kelly said.

Officers gave Blake orders, which he ignored. Blake then removed the gun from his waistband before putting it back and fleeing across Las Vegas Blvd. As he was fleeing, Kelly said that he turned and pointed the gun at Officer Bryan Davila, who fired four rounds from a 9 mm handgun at Blake. Blake was struck three times, once in the arm, once in the foot, and once in the leg.

Bodycam footage of the incident shows Blake fleeing, but the moment on video police say he turned and pointed the weapon at Davila, which prompted the shooting, is blurry and difficult to distinguish.

The round which did not hit Blake went into a building, which is a shopping mall, across the street. Kelly addressed the issue of a shooting occurring on the street of a busy road.

"We had a violent crime unit that was working that area to specifically deal with violent crime in that area. So as you saw, there were a number of vehicles that were going across the street, but as the officers chased the suspect you could see that before the officer fired, the backdrop was a closed building. So there was no traffic that was coming across," Kelly said.

As officers attempted to render medical support following the shooting, Blake remained combative, Kelly said. He has refused to cooperate with law enforcement.

Blake's criminal rap sheet is extensive. According to Kelly it includes a coercion with force warrant, burglary warranty, multiple domestic violence battery incidents, destruction of property, obstruction warrant, battery domestic violence with a deadly weapon, and traffic warrants.

Press conference and footage of OIS #2

Images via LVMPD footage.

First image: Helicopter footage shows suspect Axell Vivas pointing a gun in the direction of LVMPD police officers.

Second image: Officer Bryan Davila pursues suspect Justin Blake moments before firing four rounds at Blake. The suspect was struck three times and the fourth round went into the building pictured.