A 43-year-old Las Vegas man called for help during a burglary in progress at his home but was shot and killed multiple times by an officer who had been called to the scene.
The incident has caused strong reactions and an investigation is underway, reports say ABC News.
But according to the local police authority, the police have not done anything wrong.
On the night of November 12, the 43-year-old man in Las Vegas made an emergency call to the police after someone had broken into his home. He himself was said to be hiding with his 15-year-old daughter.
In audio recordings of the conversation, Durham is heard pleading with the emergency operator.
– Send someone here immediately, he says, according to ABC.
A 26-year-old police officer was one of the first to arrive at the scene. According to the authority’s own information, he kicked in the front door and found the 43-year-old struggling with the intruder over a knife in the hall.
Shot with multiple shots
In a video from the police body camera released by the authority, the officer can be heard yelling at them to drop the knife before he fires a shot. Then both men fall to the ground. The police then approach and fire another five shots from close range, writes ABC. The men must have known each other from before.
The 43-year-old died on the spot.
The incident has sparked strong reactions and the 43-year-old’s family demands that the police officer who shot be fired and prosecuted for the shooting. But the local police union is defending the officer, with a representative telling the ABC that while the man’s “death is tragic, the officer was just doing his job and did not mean to commit a crime”.