LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – The family of a man killed by the Las Vegas Metro Police Department for reportedly swinging a bat at officers said he was going through a mental health crisis.
The shooting happened Friday at an apartment complex along Rawhide Street near Nellis Boulevard and Russell Road.
Family members identified the man shot as 42-year-old Kyle Williams.
“We came here to find peace. I hope he found peace, I hope he found peace,” Jefferey Williams said in tears of his husband Kyle.
The couple moved to Las Vegas two years ago from Maricopa County, Arizona in search of a better life. Kyle was a member of the Navajo and Cherokee nations.
“He was a good man. He was the best man I’ve ever known, the kindest man,” Jefferey said.
Jefferey is struggling to process the death of his husband of 6 years.
“He thought everybody was out to get him. He thought that basically that I was an orchestrator of everything that was happening to him,” Jefferey said.
According to Jefferey, Kyle suffered from extreme paranoia. He was bipolar and schizophrenic.
Kyle reportedly stopped taking his medication two months ago and left the home he and Jefferey shared several days before the fatal police encounter.
Capt. Kurt Mackenzie of LVMPD said on Friday that Kyle was trying door handles and threatening residents. He was also not responding to officers’ commands.
“He walked to the passenger side of the vehicle and retrieved a man aluminum baseball bat which he then turned towards officers,” Mackenzie said. “Almost simultaneously officers deployed an electric control device which we know as an ECD. A less lethal option which was ineffective.”
No officers or residents were hurt.
Jefferey Williams told 8 News Now he wished officers used another type of non-lethal measure.
“He needed help. Plain and simple. Why shoot my Goddamn husband?”
Metro is expected to release bodycam footage of the shooting Tuesday.
Jefferey said he is holding officers responsible for what happened.
Friday’s shooting marks the ninth time a Las Vegas Metro Police Officer has fired their weapon in the line of duty this year.
The officer who fired his weapon was identified as 21-year-old Samuel Garcia and he is on routine paid administrative leave.
