Details released in NLV police shooting of teen who cops say shot them first | Shootings

Two North Las Vegas Police Department officers exchanged gunfire with a 15-year-old boy who police say first fired at them in a North Las Vegas neighborhood on Aug. 28, wounding the teen in the arm, police said.

Officers were patrolling the area of ​​Valley Drive and Washburn Road around 12:30 a.m. investigating several vehicle burglaries, Djuan Muldrew, public information officer for the North Las Vegas Police Department, said in a video released by the department Wednesday.

“A total of 12 vehicles were broken into at nine locations,” Muldrew said in the video.

The video, part of what the department called a “critical incident briefing,” also was released with body camera footage of the incident as well as photographs of evidence including what police said were the suspect’s 9 mm pistol, its magazine and bullets, a screwdriver, a pocket knife and a face mask. The department typically releases such critical incident briefings after shootings involving one or more officers, and the briefings include a department spokesperson describing the incident and the allegations against the suspect or suspects.

Muldrew said in the video that when officers located a suspect and attempted to make contact with him shortly after 3 a.m., “the suspect immediately raised a handgun and fired two rounds at the officers,” Muldrew said. “This prompted one officer to discharge his service weapon three times at the suspect.”

All three shots were fired by Officer Joshua Vardoulis, who was hired by the North Las Vegas Police Department in 2020, police said.

Muldrew said the suspect then “led officers on a short foot chase, during which he fired two more shots at officers.” Because of those shots, police said Vardoulis, as well as Officer Jesse Meyer, who was hired by the department in 2023, both fired their weapons.

In total, Vardoulis fired six shots and Meyer fired one, police said.

After the chase, the suspect, a 15-year-old boy who Muldrew said has a juvenile criminal history and is currently on juvenile probation, fled into a backyard in the 4300 block of Matinee Avenue.

Body camera footage from both officers shows the chase, as well as the suspect entering the backyard.

“After the suspect unsuccessfully attempted to jump over the back wall, officers confronted him in the backyard, where he surrendered and was taken into custody,” Muldrew said.

The suspect's left arm was struck by a bullet and officers applied a tourniquet before paramedics arrived, police said. The suspect was then transported to University Medical Center and treated for a non-life-threatening gunshot wound.

The suspect faces charges including attempted murder of a protected person and burglary while in possession of a firearm.

“Because this is a juvenile, the suspect's name and registration photo will not be released,” Muldrew said in the video.

The firearm used by the suspect was stolen from a family member who declined to press charges for the theft, Muldrew said.

Police said North Las Vegas police detectives are “working with the Clark County District Attorney's Office to certify the suspect as an adult.”

Both Vardoulis and Meyer have been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, which is ongoing, police said.

Contact Estelle Atkinson at [email protected]. Follow @estellelilym on X and @estelleatkinsonreports on Instagram.