By Bryan Horwath
Source Las Vegas Review-Journal
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Nev. Police Officer Killed Confronting Man Pointing Gun at Person
- A North Las Vegas police officer was struck multiple times in an exchange of gunfire with a gunman, who also was fatally shot in the violent clash.
Slain Nev. Police Officer Identified: 'More than a Colleague'
- "His sacrifice will never be forgotten and his legacy of service and bravery will continue to inspire us all," North Las Vegas Police Department said about Officer Jason Roscow, who was killed in a shootout.
The North Las Vegas Police Department on Wednesday released dramatic footage that showed officer Jason Roscow’s killer hovering above him with a brandished gun.
The Feb. 4 afternoon shootout left Roscow and suspect Alexander Mathis, 25, dead.
Roscow, a 46-year-old father of two young boys whose career with the department spanned 17 years, died at University Medical Center later that day after he was shot multiple times by Mathis.
During a news conference Wednesday morning, police played body camera footage from Roscow and another officer who responded to the scene.
Mathis fired five rounds from a Makarov pistol, according to North Las Vegas Police Assistant Chief Adam Hyde.
Despite having suffered several gunshot wounds, Roscow was able to fire 16 rounds, hitting Mathis, who died of a single gunshot wound to the head, according to police and the Clark County coroner’s office.
The other officer, who has been identified as Luis Macias-Venegas, 36, fired a single round, Hyde said. Police didn’t say where that round ended up.
The footage showed Mathis standing over Roscow as the officer lay in the street, just moments after the officer ordered Mathis, who was dressed in all black, to show his hands while in the 1300 block of Misty View Court in North Las Vegas.
“Hands up, show me your hands … hands,” Roscow can be heard shouting on the footage shown to reporters. The sound of shots being fired then followed as Mathis emerged from behind a Jeep parked in the street.
In body camera footage from Macias-Venegas, the officer is shown pulling up to the site of the shooting. “It’s going to be Misty View Court, I’m out here,” he can be heard saying over his radio.
Seconds later, sounds of gunfire could be heard.
Police declined to take questions from reporters during Wednesday’s briefing.
In the early afternoon hours on Feb. 4, police received at least two reports of a man with a gun who was throwing rocks at vehicles, including one from a woman who said her car window had been broken.
The man, later identified as Mathis, was reportedly walking along Camino Al Norte, near where it intersects with West Lone Mountain Road. The site of the shootout was less than a mile from that location.
Police said Mathis “approached” Roscow after the officer seemed to try to take cover from the parked Jeep on Misty View Court.
Roscow, who had worked in the traffic division for several years, had returned to patrol last February.
“He really would light a room,” said officer Philip Karas, president of the North Las Vegas Police Officers Association, the union that represents North Las Vegas officers. “He was a very funny individual, always uplifting those around him. It’s a shame for the people just coming on and the people that we hire after that will never get to know him or learn from his experience.”
Gov. Joe Lombardo also announced Wednesday that he has ordered U.S. and State of Nevada flags to be lowered to half-staff from sunrise to sunset Thursday in honor of Roscow.
When reached by phone on Tuesday, Jason Roscow’s father, Illinois resident Ervin Roscow, said he did not wish to talk about his son’s death, other than to say the days since his passing have been “the hardest days of our lives.”
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