If a Citizen Came to the Rescue of an Aggressor During a Fight He Could be Charged w/a Crime. But What About Cops? LVPD Cop Fatally Shot a Black Man Repeatedly After He Called 911 to Report a Break-in
/From [HERE] A 43-year-old father was shot and killed in his home by a Las Vegas police officer last week, authorities said, after he called 911 for help and struggled with a woman he knew over a knife.
Brandon Durham’s family has asked for the officer to be arrested, but an attorney for Officer Alexander Bookman said his client committed no crime.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police received multiple calls early November 12 about a shooting on Wine River Drive. Durham, who was home with his 15-year-old daughter, told 911 that people were shooting at his house and had broken in, Assistant Sheriff Dori Koren said at a news conference last week.
When Bookman and two others responded, they saw damaged cars and windows and heard screaming and banging from inside Durham’s home. Bookman kicked in Durham’s front door and, once inside, found Durham and Alejandra Boudreaux, 31, wrestling over a knife in a bedroom doorway, according to Koren.
Boudreaux, who was in a relationship with Durham, had broken into the home and she and Durham were in a heated confrontation, according to an arrest report, first obtained by CNN affiliate KVVU.
Bookman shouted, “Drop the knife! Drop the knife!” and fired one shot, hitting Durham and sending him and Boudreaux to the ground. Durham, on the floor, was then shot by Bookman five more times, body-worn camera footage released by police showed. It is not clear whether one or both were holding the knife at the moment of the shooting.
“After the shots, (Boudreaux) told the officer he shot the wrong person,” the arrest report states.
“An arrest warrant should be issued immediately for the arrest of officer Alexander Bookman,” Lee Merritt, an attorney for Durham’s family, said at a Monday news conference, reported by CNN affiliate KNTV.
Bookman’s attorney says the officer did nothing that violated the law.
Steven Wolfson, Clark County district attorney, said in a statement the investigation is “still in its infancy.”
“It will take weeks, if not months, for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department to complete its investigation; therefore, it would be inappropriate for me to express an opinion regarding whether criminal charges are going to be filed,” Wolfson said. “I simply do not have all the information yet.”