A Las Vegas man was shot 14 times and killed after he stabbed a police officer at a gun range he’d just robbed minutes earlier.
Las Vegas police say Marvin Payton Jr. tried to steal a gun out of a customer’s bag at Range 702 in Clark County in February.
Surveillance video of the shooting was released to the public on Monday, May 3.
When employees confronted Payton, he fled into the parking lot where he was spotted by two arriving officers.
Payton was not armed initially, so the officers did not draw their weapons.
As the two officers approached Payton he pulled a screwdriver out of his pocket and stabbed a female officer several times.
Assistant Clark County Sheriff Brett Zimmerman told reporters on Monday that Payton was shot by Officer Andrew Nguyen and four employees of the shooting range.
Officer Nguyen fired his service weapon 9 times. The other 5 shots were fired by the employees. Payton was pronounced dead at the scene.
Officer Nguyen, who joined the force in 2018, was placed on paid leave pending an internal review of the officer-involved shooting.
The employees were not identified and they will not be charged in the shooting.
“Their involvement actually helped our officer and could have saved our officer’s life,” Zimmerman said.
Surveillance footage shows Payton leaving the facility as the two officers arrived in a patrol unit.
There is a brief scuffle and Payton produces the screwdriver and stabs the female officer.
The armed employees who were watching as the drama unfolded drew their weapons and opened fire.
Zimmerman said the officers didn’t activate their body-worn video cameras.
New security camera footage from Las Vegas exactly shows why you should not try to rob a gun store… pic.twitter.com/HwAIHtfMpH
— Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) May 5, 2021
