LAS VEGAS (AP) - A motorist who was shot and killed by a Las Vegas police motorcycle officer during a weekend traffic stop reached for a homemade knife on his belt and grabbed the officer’s stun gun during a struggle, a department official said.
Demontry Floytra Boyd, 43, was shot twice and died at University Medical Center after the fight with Officer Paul Bruning a little before 8 a.m. Saturday in a residential neighborhood east of downtown, Assistant Clark County Sheriff Brett Zimmerman told reporters Tuesday .
Body-worn camera video showed Bruning telling Boyd he had been stopped because he was driving recklessly and the officer radioing to dispatchers that the vehicle wasn’t registered. Boyd told the officer it was his cousin’s car and the item on his hip was a battery pack.
Zimmerman said Boyd ignored repeated commands not to reach for his waistband and Bruning radioed for backup before video showed Boyd preventing Bruning from handcuffing him, shaking off the effects of a stun gun shock and rushing at Bruning.
The camera view was obscured during the most of the struggle, but Zimmerman said Boyd grabbed Bruning’s stun gun.
Bruning can be heard saying, “Don’t you dare. I’m going to shoot you. I’m going to shoot you.”
The police official said the item on Boyd’s hip turned out to be a hand-hewn knife in a makeshift sheath.
Zimmerman said Boyd had several felony convictions in California in 2007 on charges including evading a police officer and carjacking.
Bruning, 48, a 13-year Las Vegas police veteran, is on paid leave pending department and district attorney reviews.
It was the 22nd shooting involving Las Vegas police this year, and the 12th resulting in a death. At the same time last year, the department had 21 shootings, including 10 that were fatal, Zimmerman said.
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