LAS VEGAS -- A source with Metro Police tells 8 News NOW that a breakdown in communication "on scene" may have lead to the deadly shooting of an unarmed man late Sunday night.
Police officers shot and killed Stanley Gibson outside an apartment complex near Smoke Ranch Road and Rainbow Boulevard. Sources tell 8 News NOW that one officer fired a non-lethal bean-bag gun into the car and a second officer thought the noise was Gibson shooting at them, which is why he fire at Gibson.
The I-Team also learned this is not Gibson's first run-in with authorities. He was charged in federal court with threatening to kill a Veterans Affairs doctor. The federal indictment paints a picture of a violent man who was angry at a reduction in his veteran's benefits.
The federal indictment says that on October 24, Gibson was at the Southwest Veterans Clinic on Jones Boulevard near Twain Avenue. The indictment says he charged into Dr. Banshi Kashyap's office and threatened to kill him if his disability benefits were cut. The doctor ran away before being attacked.
A second federal indictment count charged Gibson with disrupting the entire clinic by shouting obscenities at random employees. A Veterans Affairs police officer claims when Gibson was in custody, he yelled out: "As soon as you take me out of these handcuffs, I am going to kill that doctor."
A federal judge released Gibson to his wife's custody October 26. He was ordered to immediately report to Monte Vista Hospital. It is not known what, if any, treatment Gibson had at the hospital. Gibson pleaded guilty to one count of misdemeanor assault November 1. He was scheduled to be sentenced in February.
Sources at Metro Police meanwhile have confirmed to 8 News NOW that the lieutenant and sergeant that were handling the scene of the deadly officer-involved shooting Sunday night have been relieved of duty. The two officers will be off duty with pay until an investigation is finished.
