Man Lunges at Vegas Police With a Knife; They Shoot Him

Jack Phillips
8/15/2018
Updated:
8/15/2018

Recently released police body camera footage shows Las Vegas Metropolitan Police officers shooting a man armed with a knife after he lunged at them.

In the video, police fired a Taser at him, but the man, identified as Spurgeon Daniels in local media reports, kept moving forward. When he approaches the entrance of a motel, he then lunges at an officer with a knife before officers shoot him.

News3 in Las Vegas reported on Aug. 10 that the officers were responding to a suicide situation. Motel management at the Kensington Suites near Bonanza Road and Tonopah Drive called the police to perform a welfare check on Daniels.

Detectives told News3 that Daniels was spotted running around naked in the motel.

When officers entered his motel room, the room appears trashed and Daniels can be seen holding something behind his back. In the video, Daniels can be seen repeatedly refusing the orders of police. Officers fire a Taser at him, which doesn’t work. Then, Daniels swipes at them with a knife, forcing the officers to retreat.

One officer was cut in the hand with the knife, police told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Officers fired another Taser. After that, he charged officers, forcing them to open fire. News3 reported that he was hit in the stomach.

The Review-Journal reported that Daniels, 62, later died at a hospital.

Assault with a Deadly Weapon

LVMPD Assistant Sheriff Tim Kelly said that officers did everything they could to diffuse the situation. “The person reporting told dispatch he was afraid something bad may have happened to Daniels because he was not answering the door,” Kelly told the Review-Journal.

“On each one of those incidents, we have to take a critical look to ensure all of our tactics are sound,” he told News3, adding that the police department will investigate why the Tasers didn’t work.

“Basically, replay this was there better things that could have been done as opposed to putting the officer in that position. He was very lucky,” he said.

The Review-Journal identified Dave Stockton as the officer who fired at Daniels.

If Daniels survived, he would have faced charges of battery with a deadly weapon and assault with a deadly weapon on a protected person, said Kelly.

Kelly told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that it was the third police officer-involved shooting in 48 hours.

Apple, iPhone, and iPad are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.
Apple, iPhone, and iPad are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

“In my 28-plus years here, I don’t recall us having this many (officer-involved shootings) in such a short period of time,” Kelly said. “It’s unfortunate, but when you have individuals out there that are trying to cause harm, as a police agency it’s our job to take action to mitigate that threat.”

“The shooting marked the department’s 13th of the year and the third in a 48-hour stretch that began about 1:15 p.m. Saturday when two officers fatally shot a man after an hourslong barricade. Later that night, an officer returned fire at a man who had shot at officers. That man was found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound,” the Review-Journal reported.

The officer who was hurt by the knife was later released from the hospital, Kelly said.

Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter with 15 years experience who started as a local New York City reporter. Having joined The Epoch Times' news team in 2009, Jack was born and raised near Modesto in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
twitter
Related Topics