By Spencer Levering, Alex Streinger and Noble Brigham
Las Vegas Review-Journal
LAS VEGAS — A 30-year-old Las Vegas police officer died Tuesday afternoon following a gunbattle with an armed suspect in the east valley, Sheriff Kevin McMahill said. The gunman was also killed.
A source identified the officer as Austin Abdelnabi. The Las Vegas Aviators minor league baseball team also displayed Abdelnabi’s name on the scoreboard at Las Vegas Ballpark and held a moment of silence for him Tuesday night. Metro had not confirmed his identity as of Tuesday night.
In a briefing outside University Medical Center on Tuesday evening, McMahill said a caller reported at 3:57 p.m. that someone was waving a firearm in a business and appeared to be intoxicated. The call involved a business in the 4500 block of East Tropicana Avenue.
Metro Capt. Adam Seely, speaking in a separate briefing Tuesday night, added that police received multiple reports of a person walking near the intersection of Mountain Vista Street and Tropicana Avenue while erratically waving a firearm. Seely said officers found the suspect in the 5400 block of Mountain Vista Street, near Interstate 11, which is south of where the initial call came in from.
The suspect “immediately opened fire upon officers” after officers contacted the suspect, Seely said, and at least one officer returned fire toward the suspect.
The officer who died was shot, Seely said. He added that the officer killed was one of the initial responders.
Fellow Metropolitan Police Department officers, fire personnel and emergency medical workers tried to save the wounded officer at the scene and closed off streets to clear a path for an ambulance carrying the officer to reach UMC, where McMahill said doctors and nurses “worked feverishly” to save his life.
“Unfortunately, our officer has passed,” he said.
Numerous law enforcement vehicles — at least 20 — were seen outside UMC on Tuesday afternoon. Throughout Tuesday afternoon and evening, uniformed police officers and others gathered and could be seen embracing.
According to his LinkedIn page, Abdelnabi served in the Marine Corps from August 2014 to August 2018 and earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice/law enforcement administration from Clemson University in 2022.
“He was also not only a police officer but a Marine veteran who served his country and his community,” McMahill said.
He said the officer had been with Metro since November 2023.
“As you can imagine, I have a lot of grieving officers, a grieving community,” he said.
Seely added: “It’s a difficult time for the police department. We have an officer that we need to bury, a life that we need to honor. Over the next week or so, we’re going to be doing that.”
By 8:15 p.m. , about 200 people, mostly Metro officers in uniform, had gathered outside the hospital, with some forming a walkway to a white van. The officer’s body was loaded into the van, which slowly drove away behind several police motorcycles toward the Clark County coroner’s office. Dozens of officers, led by McMahill, also walked behind the van.
Gov. Joe Lombardo, the former sheriff, said that “Nevada lost one of its own” in a statement posted to social media Tuesday night.
“Donna and I are praying for this officer’s family, loved ones, and every member of the Metro family as they mourn this heartbreaking loss,” the statement said. “We will never forget this officer’s sacrifice, and we will always stand with the brave men and women of law enforcement who risk their lives to protect our communities.”
Clark County Commission Chair Michael Naft said flags at county buildings would be lowered in the officer’s honor.
“My deepest condolences are with the family of our fallen officer on the news of today’s unimaginable loss,” Naft said in a statement. “We hold them and our entire LVMPD family close to our hearts at this incredibly painful time.”
Near the scene Tuesday afternoon and evening, police activity appeared to be centered around the Interstate 11 overpass at Mountain Vista Street , with dozens of law enforcement vehicles parked in the area.
According to Metro’s website, the last time an officer from the department was killed in the line of duty was in 2022.
Officer Truong Thai , 49, was shot that October while responding to a domestic disturbance call.
Tyson Hampton , 28, pleaded guilty but mentally ill in May to dozens of charges, including first-degree murder. He previously faced the death penalty, but under the plea agreement, prosecutors agreed to no longer seek capital punishment.
Hampton’s sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 24.
In 2024, off-duty Metro officer Colton Pulsipher was heading home when he was killed by a wrong-way driver on Interstate 15 . Both 29-year-old Pulsipher and Fernando Jimenez-Jimenez , 31, died at the scene.
Last year, 46-year-old North Las Vegas police officer Jason Roscow was killed in a shootout with a suspect. The armed suspect, Alexander Mathis , 25, also died.
Seely said Tuesday marked the ninth officer-involved shooting in Metro’s jurisdiction this year.
Digital content producer Trevor Squire contributed to this report.
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