Vegas police officer on life support after being shot in the head during scuffle with George Floyd protester
A Las Vegas Metropolitan Police officer was critically injured after he was shot in the head during another night of protests over the Memorial Day death of George Floyd. Speaking at an early-morning press conference, Las Vegas Sheriff Joseph Lombardo revealed that the incident took place while officers were trying to disperse a large crowd of protesters in front of the Circus Circus Hotel & Casino just after 11 pm on Monday, June 1.
Lombardo said the crowd was throwing bottles and rocks at them, and that the officer went down after a shot rang out while some of the protesters were being taken into custody. A source told KLAS that the officer in question had been in a struggle with a protester when another person walked up and shot him in the back of the head. The suspect was arrested and taken into custody at around 2 am. The New York Post reported that the officer was transported to University Medical Center for treatment in an "extremely critical condition" and that he is on life support.
That was not the only shooting from a night that was marred with violence. In a separate incident, a man died after he was shot near the Lloyd George Federal Building on Las Vegas Boulevard. "At approximately 11:22 p.m., officers encountered a subject who was armed with multiple firearms and appeared to be wearing body armor," Lombardo revealed. "During the interaction, the subject reached for a firearm and the officers engaged him. The suspect was struck by gunfire and transported to the hospital where he was pronounced deceased."
"This is a sad night for our LVMPD family and a tragic night for our community," Lombardo said.
Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak confirmed the shooting incidents and said his office was monitoring the situation. "My Office has been notified that the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is currently working two separate incidents in Las Vegas," he tweeted. "The State is in contact with local law enforcement and continues to monitor the situation."
People around the country have taken to the streets in protest following Floyd's death at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer on Monday, May 25. In a video that has now been viewed millions of times, officer Derek Chauvin could be seen kneeling on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes even as the 46-year-old cried that he could not breathe. In several of the cities, protesters have clashed with police, resulting in President Donald Trump allegedly calling governors "weak" and asking them to "dominate" the protesters. "You have to dominate, if you don't dominate you're wasting your time," he can be heard saying in a leaked audio call. "They're going to run over your, you're going to have to look like a bunch of jerks."
"Washington was under very good control, but we're going to have it under much more control. We're going to pull in thousands of people," he added, before telling governors they need to "arrest people, you have to track people, you have to put them in jail for 10 years and you'll never see this stuff again"