Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Video shows credit union shooting
Suspect was robbing his mother, police say
Dramatic video released by Las Vegas police shows a gunman shooting a woman in a southwest Las Vegas credit union, then exchanging fire with an officer.
The video was made public Friday by police as part of the investigation into Wednesday morning’s shooting at Navy Federal Credit Union, 6975 Spring Mountain Road, near Rainbow Boulevard.
Clark County Assistant Sheriff Brett Zimmerman said William Cass Jackson, 32, of Las Vegas, shot his mother three times inside the credit union, then fled on foot. A short time later, the gunman pointed a gun at Las Vegas officer Michale Simmons, 51, during a confrontation in a parking lot at 6950 W. Desert Inn Road, he said.
“Officer Simmons arrived at that location in a marked patrol vehicle,” Zimmerman said. “As officer Simmons was driving through that parking lot, Jackson pointed his handgun toward him. Officer Simmons fired three rounds through his patrol car front windshield at that time, missing Jackson.”
Zimmerman said Jackson started running and fired two rounds at the officer. Simmons exited his vehicle and “returned fire, discharging two more rounds, missing Jackson.”
Zimmerman said Jackson fled the parking lot, then barricaded himself in another parking lot at 3225
S. Rainbow Blvd., hiding behind a parked car near a dumpster enclosure. A SWAT team and crisis negotiators arrived and started communicating with Jackson.
“Jackson eventually surrendered and was taken into custody without further incident,” Zimmerman said.
Simmons, who was identified Friday morning as the officer who discharged his weapon during the confrontation, is assigned to the Spring Valley Area Command Community Policing Division. He has been employed by Metro since 2000. He is on routine paid administrative leave pending the review of the officer-involved shooting.
During Friday’s police briefing, Zimmerman said the violence started with Jackson’s mother being kidnapped from her southwest Las Vegas residence at gunpoint.
“The female was Jackson’s mother, who he had forced to go to the credit union to withdraw money to give him,” Zimmerman said.
Zimmerman then played surveillance video from the credit union.
The video shows a man Zimmerman said was Jackson entering the credit union with his mother.
The video shows the man wearing an orange construction vest in the lobby. The woman goes behind a glass door into an office at the credit union. The man carrying the gun then opens fire, shattering the glass door, as he meanders through the lobby holding a gun. People are seen fleeing the bank. The man is then shown on the video, the camera recording a closeup image of his face, as he carries a handgun near his waist.
Jackson faces charges of attempted murder with use of a deadly weapon, burglary while in possession of a gun, robbery with use of a deadly weapon, discharging a gun in a prohibited area, robbery with use of a deadly weapon, carrying a concealed weapon without a permit, assault on a protected person with a deadly weapon, battery with use of a deadly weapon resulting in substantial bodily harm on an elderly victim, first-degree kidnapping, assault and domestic battery.
Jackson made an appearance in court on Thursday morning. Chief Deputy District Attorney Peter Thunell told Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Joe Bonaventure that Jackson held his mother, whose age and name were not released, at gunpoint inside her home before forcing her to the credit union and withdraw $2,000 before shooting her.
Jackson was ordered held on $300,000 bail.
An update on the condition of his mother has not been released, but Zimmerman said Friday that the woman, who has not been identified, is expected to survive. Zimmerman also said that Jackson has a prior conviction for domestic violence, but he could not say whether that involved his mother.