Two arrests in northwest valley parking lot shooting

Roles unclear in case where officer fired shots

Two men were arrested after Las Vegas police shot a man Tuesday afternoon in a northwest valley shopping center parking lot, police records show.

Metropolitan Police Department documents implicate Giuseppe W. Russo, 30, and Andrew Verdi, 26, in the incident. They were booked Tuesday into the Clark County Detention Center. Russo was jailed on charges of assault on a protected person with a deadly weapon, carrying a concealed weapon without a permit and possession of a gun by a prohibited person. His bail was set at $15,000.

Verdi was jailed on a possession of a controlled substance charge. His bail was set at $3,000.

Metropolitan Police Department Sgt. Jeff Clark said the man shot was in critical condition.

It wasn’t clear Wednesday what Russo’s and Verdi’s roles were in the incident, which Clark said stemmed from a 911 call placed about 1:50 p.m. about a man who seemed “distraught” in the parking lot of a Kohl’s at Montecito Crossing, a shopping center at 6700 N. Durango Drive.

One officer was sent to check on the man, who was standing next to a gold vehicle Clark said was stolen. When he arrived, the officer ordered the man to step in front of his patrol car, but the distraught man refused, Clark said.

The man ran away, and the officer chased him.

“As the suspect continued to run away from the officer he, with his right hand, reached into his waistband and pulled out a firearm,” Clark said. “The officer fired multiple rounds, striking the suspect.”

It was unclear whether the man shot fired any rounds at police. He was taken to University Medical Center’s trauma unit. The officer involved was uninjured.

Clark said that the shooting happened in the middle of a “busy shopping center” but that the officer involved did “everything he could as safe as he could.”

“I can tell you that our officer took great care, issued numerous verbal commands, gave the subject multiple, multiple opportunities to comply, and he failed to do so. And he pulled a firearm on a police officer,” Clark said near the scene Tuesday. “The officer never put any citizens in danger, but the suspect did.”

Contact Mike Shoro at mshoro@ reviewjournal.com. Follow @mike_ shoro on Twitter.