Police Ambush Incident Response

• In Event: Police Management of High-Risk Individuals and Critical Incidents

Abstract

The Las Vegas, Nevada community and Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) experienced a tragic loss on June 8, 2014, when two officers were ambushed and killed by two assailants. The assailants then instigated an active shooter situation, killing a Good Samaritan civilian who attempted to intervene. LVMPD officers and supervisors responded to the active shooter threat, which evolved into a barricaded subject scenario. Ultimately, both assailants died: one by an officer-involved shooting and the other from a self-inflicted gunshot.

CNA conducted the after action analysis of this event. They analyzed the event precursors, incident response, and aftermath to document important lessons that can be learned about critical incidents. These findings and lessons learned will be helpful to the larger law enforcement community by illustrating how to conduct self-evaluation after critical incidents, and better prepare for such incidents as ambushes and active shooter situations. This analysis builds on other analyses of violence against law enforcement. While there are still gaps in our understanding about ambushes of law enforcement officers, there is much to be learned about responding to violence targeting law enforcement in agencies across the country.

Authors

• Ashley Nicole Shultz, CNA

• Zoë Thorkildsen, CNA