Las Vegas Police Commit First Shooting of 2007

2007 in Las Vegas had barely begun before the first fatal shooting occurred across the valley. On the evening of Monday, January 1, around 9:45 pm Police officers were forced to fire on suspect, Ivan Ariza 31, fatally wounding him.

The victim's wife reported to a 911 operator that her husband, Ariza, was threatening her with a knife and allegedly told her "he wanted police to shoot him!" Officers responding to the 911 call placed around 9:35 pm on New Year's night arrived at the Canyon Creek Villas condominium's located on North Rainbow Blvd., to find the suspect sitting outside in front of his condo, holding a knife.

Captain, James Dillon, of the Metro Robbery/Homicide Unit said on Tuesday that, "Officer's ordered Mr. Ariza to put down the 12-inch butcher knife but he refused to comply." Police report that the victim rose from the utility box he was sitting on and came toward the officer's still holding the knife in his hand. The victim told police he wanted them to shoot him. They ordered him once more to drop the knife. Instead of obeying the command Mr. Ariza lunged forward with the knife at an officer and four officers shot him, Dillon said. Official police sources have stated 18 shots were fired, but would not speculate on the distance from the officers to the victim nor would they address questions regarding why tasers or bean-bag guns were not used instead of gunfire.

According to a neighbor who spoke to reporters, Tiffany McDaniel 39, was standing on her balcony above the action and could hear all the confrontation between LV Metro Police officers and Mr. Ariza although her view was partially obstructed. Ms. McDaniel stated that she could hear officer's requesting the suspect "calm down" and Mr. Ariza pleading with them to "shoot him down" and that he was going to kill himself. She barely had any time to dive back in her door, banging her leg in the process, before gunfire quickly began exploding below her position. When the shooting stopped and she stepped back out her door, all McDaniel saw was Ariza's body,lying face down in a pool of blood. She estimated the distance from the victim to the four police officers was between 15 and 20 feet.

Miguel Landa 25, and his son were pulling into the parking lot on Monday evening when he was in shock to see the crime scene tape strung across the condo and the dead body laying on the ground. Police advised him, Landa said, that he might not want his toddler to see that [body]. Mr. Landa also a resident of the Canyon Creek Villas knew the victim, Ariza. Until recently the Ariza's had lived in the condo above him. Landa stated that Ariza was "really calm and laid back" when he was around him. But he could hear the couple fighting and door slamming often coming from the condo above and the police had been called out more than once. He said he thought Ariza was a truck driver. Note -The 31 year old victim was a local delivery driver for California Overnight.

New Sheriff for Las Vegas, Doug Gillespie, recently sworn in said "Its pretty clear to me based on what I have been told so far that if this individual had done what he had been told to, by officers out there at the scene, he'd be with us today. And for whatever reason, he chose not to." "LVMPD will conduct an investigation to determine what can be learned from this tragic event and necessary changes be made to training and procedures for the future if any" Gillespie also stated.

A coroner's inquest will be held once the Department investigation is complete so a jury can determine justification in the shooting. The four officers involved in the incident have been placed on paid administrative leave pending investigation. Per Department Policy, the names and identities of the four officers on administrative leave are withheld for 48 hours. In 2006, there were 24 shooting incidents involving Las Vegas Metro police which resulted in the deaths of nine. Another four died while in police custody involving tasers, pepper spray and excessive force.

**Authors Note: I knew Ivan Ariza, as our California Overnight delivery driver where I work. Although I could not call him a close friend. He was always smiling, pleasant and his happiness was infectious. He always had a kind word when he would come in to make his deliveries and his pick-up's everyday. I cannot begin to speculate what happened to him that he would resort to this behavior or for this incident to happen to him so suddenly but I know there are people in Las Vegas that will miss him even though we didn't know him well. RIP Ivan - Ninigurl

Source - Las Vegas Review-Journal/David Kihara