Carjacking spree ends in shootout, suicide, K9 killed
By Dan Kulin and Jace Radke

A man killed himself this morning after stealing several cars, including two
police vehicles, getting into a shootout with Metro Police officers and
killing a police dog, officials said. The series of five carjackings in northwest
Las Vegas started just after midnight and police had major roads closed this
morning for the investigation, causing a rush-hour traffic jam. The crime spree
ended when the man apparently shot himself in the head while driving a stolen
patrol SUV along U.S. 95, Metro Lt. Tom Monahan said. It all began with the
carjacking of a sedan in the 1500 block of West Bonanza Road, near Martin
Luther King Boulevard, Lt. Les Lane, a Metro watch commander, said. Two suspects
stole the car by force and drove off. About an hour later, he said, the car
crashed at the Suncoast. The two suspects got out of the wrecked car and one fled on
foot, Monahan said. The other robbed a car from an elderly couple, then saw a
Toyota Rav4, abandoned the stolen car and carjacked the sport-utility
vehicle, Monahan said. In the area of Lake Mead Boulevard and Buffalo
Drive the lone carjacker attracted the attention of a Paiute tribal police officer, who
was off duty but in uniform and in his patrol car, probably on his way home,
Monahan said. The officer approached the suspect, who pulled a gun on
him, took the officer's weapon and stole the tribal police car. He ordered a female
passenger out and drove off. The woman flagged down two Metro K-9
officers who were finishing a dinner break nearby. They saw the tribal patrol car heading
east on Lake Mead Boulevard and gave chase, Monahan said. Between Buffalo Drive
and Tenaya Way, the man bailed out of the stolen patrol car, which continued
moving several hundred yards before it crashed to a stop, Monahan said. The man
started firing at the K-9 officers with a gun in each hand, Monahan said.  One
officer returned fire and drove around to get into a better position.  Monahan said.
The other stopped and took cover behind his patrol car, an Expedition
sport-utility vehicle, he said. When the second officer tried to get back into his
SUV to move, the gunman shot out his driver's side window, Monahan said.
The officer took cover again, and the gunman jumped into the patrol SUV and
took off, he said. It's only the second time in his 19-year career Monahan could
remember a patrol car being stolen. "We're trained to get out of our cars," Monahan
said. "The last thing you worry about when you're taking fire is whether the
car is still running." At some point in the stolen K-9 vehicle, the man shot
the police dog, who was muzzled, to death, Monahan said. He drove the SUV
onto U.S. 95. Other officers joined the chase on the freeway. "The evidence
suggests that the suspect shot himself once in the head while driving at freeway
speed," Monahan said. The SUV continued about half a mile along the
freeway, then crashed into the concrete barrier, he said. The gunman, who had not been
identified this morning, was pronounced dead at the scene, Monahan said.
Monahan said the gunman appeared to have died of a gunshot wound in the head and
did not appear to have other wounds, but an autopsy, to be conducted Saturday,
would determine the official cause of death. Toxicology tests also will be
done, Monahan said. No one other than the gunman and police dog was harmed,
Monahan said. Monahan said it was lucky that the series of chases occurred late
at night. "Were this to happen at 2 in the afternoon instead of 2 in the
morning, we probably would have had bodies all over Lake Mead," Monahan said. The
multiple police scenes caused Lake Mead Boulevard from Buffalo to Tenaya to be
closed during the rush hour, as well as part of U.S. 95. The freeway was opened
about 8 a.m. Lake Mead reopened about 10:15 a.m. About 8:30 a.m., police started
letting people walk across the streets to the many shops and businesses in the area
near the shooting. "I'm a little surprised that this happened in this neighborhood, but it doesn't sound like it started here. I guess these things can end up anywhere," said Dina Anderson, a nail technician at Destination Garden Spa, 7331 W. Lake Mead Blvd.At nearby Cimarron-Memorial High School, Principal Janice Rowland said as a precaution the school locked the gates leading to the parking lot during first period.  "We did that so that we could make sure we knew who was coming in and out of campus," Rowland said. "Other than that, it's been business as usual for us, with the exception of a lot of tardies this morning. "Stacey Fishberg, a massage therapist who works with Anderson, worried about how the street closures would affect the business. "We're going to be losing hundreds of dollars today. Fridays are our big days and make our week for us," she said. But the two spa employees said the thing that most upset them was the news that the police dog had been killed.