SPARKS, Nev. — The Sparks Police Department released videos showing an officer-involved shooting of a man who told officers they would have to kill him before ramming cruisers with his vehicle and pointing a gun at officers.
The March 12 incident began when a suspect called 911 to report himself.
“I’ve got a gun and I’m gonna ho [into a gym] and shoot everybody,” the man can be heard saying in dispatch audio.
The caller told the dispatcher his name was Jay and described his location and vehicle. The dispatcher continued asking the man questions, eventually learning that his dog was in the car and that the man had a handgun. When he asked the caller what kind of handgun it was, the caller replied, “One that will make you shoot me.”
After the man ended the call with the dispatcher, a crisis negotiator called him and had a brief conversation, according to police. The man told the negotiator that officers would have to kill him.
Officers arrived at the scene and secured the gym that the man had threatened. They then used a drone and a cellphone ping to locate the man.
After finding the vehicle described in the phone call, officers called in an armored vehicle. Officers then saw the man release a dog from the truck.
Minutes later, the suspect started accelerating the truck toward police cruisers, dash camera video shows. As he drove, the man pointed a gun at officers.
The truck side-swiped a marked cruiser, temporarily trapping an officer inside, before hitting an unmarked police vehicle head-on. Officers then fired shots at the man, who was still inside the vehicle.
Officers waited to approach the vehicle until the armored vehicle arrived. They then made PA announcements, instructing the man to surrender to officers, for approximately 14 minutes with no response from the suspect.
Officers then approached the vehicle and found the suspect unresponsive. On-scene medical personnel rendered aid to the suspect, but he was later pronounced dead, according to the release.
Alongside the dash- and body camera footage release, Sparks Police also released drone footage of the incident.
