Stabbing suspect killed by Las Vegas police officer ID’d

The Clark County coroner’s office identified the man shot and killed by a Las Vegas police officer responding to reports Wednesday night that a woman was being stabbed.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department received multiple reports of a man pinning a woman to the ground and stabbing her around 9 p.m. at an apartment complex on the 5300 block of East Tropicana Avenue, west of Boulder Highway, Metro Capt. Kelly McMahill said Wednesday. A sergeant responded to the call and found the man, identified 30-year-old William Fuller, attacking the woman outside the complex.

After the sergeant ordered Fuller to get off the woman and drop the knife several times, he stood up and charged the sergeant while holding the knife, police said.

The sergeant fired two shots, hitting him both times. Fuller was taken to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center where he later died, according to the coroner’s office.

Fuller’s official cause of death was still pending Friday morning.

The woman was also taken to Sunrise Hospital, where her injuries were described as nonlife-threatening Wednesday night, McMahill said.

Four children inside the home the two shared were not injured. The sergeant who shot Fuller was not hurt, police said.

Police will identify the sergeant within 48 hours of the incident and will hold a press briefing to release more details within 72 hours.

Fuller’s death marks the 14th officer-involved shooting Metro has investigated this year. Wednesday’s shooting was also the fourth time police shot at suspects in a five-day span.

On Saturday, two men died in separate officer-involved shootings, with one shot by police after barricading inside an apartment and firing at officers, and the other exchanging gunfire with officers before dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. On Monday, police shot and killed a man after stun guns failed to work, and the suspect injured an officer with a knife.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.