LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – Several neighbors shared their concern with 8 News Now Thursday after police said a person shot and killed a man trying to break into their home in the southwest Las Vegas valley.
“I was shocked,” Jennifer Sauberan said. “Because it’s a very quiet neighborhood.”
Sauberan, who told 8 News Now she has lived in her neighborhood near Torrey Pines Drive and Flamingo Drive for decades, was startled by a crime scene on her street.
“I was just thinking oh my God what if I hadn’t come back the night before?” Sauberan said. “It could have been my house.”
During a news conference, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Homicide Lieutenant Jason Johansson said the homeowner called 911 around 7:40 a.m. stating that a strange man was breaking windows, trying to get inside their house.
“The man was not listening to what they were telling him,” Lt. Johansson explained. “He was acting extremely irrational as they continued to tell him to leave the property.”
Lt. Johansson said that’s when the man moved toward the front door and the homeowner pulled the trigger.
Officers found that man in the driveway with a gunshot wound. He later died at the hospital.
“We want to see in a situation like this,” Lt. Johansson explained of the investigation. “Where did he come from? How did he get here?”
As detectives work to piece together why this happened, Sauberan told 8 News now she will continue to do what she can to stay safe.
“I have cameras around my house now,” she explained. “I put them up more recently, but then I put in flood lights and stuff because it makes me a little bit nervous sometimes.”
Sauberan said she hopes things in the area go back to what she’s used to seeing.
“It was so unexpected,” she concluded of the shooting. ‘We never have anything ever happen in this neighborhood, ever.”
Lt. Johansson said during Thursday’s news conference that there are ‘self-defense’ elements in this case.
He said he does not believe the homeowner will face charges, but the investigation is ongoing and the Clark County District Attorney will make that determination.
Anyone with any information is encouraged to contact the LVMPD Homicide Section by phone at 702-828-3521 or by email at homicide@lvmpd.com. To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555 or on their website.
