S. Tahoe officer fatally shoots suspect at hotel
A South Lake Tahoe police officer fatally shot a man June 15. Photo/LTN
A South Lake Tahoe police officer this morning fatally shot a man at the Tahoe Hacienda Inn.
Officers were called to the hotel on Lake Tahoe Boulevard at 2:40am June 15 because of reports of a woman who was screaming and crying.
Ten minutes later an officer fired a single shot at a man in his early 20s who was trying to escape out of a hotel window. The man died a few hours later at Barton Memorial Hospital.
The victim’s name is not being released until next of kin is notified.
The officer’s name has also not been released. The officer has been put on paid administrative leave.
This is the first officer-involved shooting for the department since November 2004.
“This afternoon we are securing a search warrant so we can investigate the interior of the hotel room where the incident took place,” Police Chief Brian Uhler told Lake Tahoe News.
El Dorado County sheriff’s and district attorney’s detectives will be investigating the shooting aspect of the case.
A hotel employee about 8:30 Monday morning told Lake Tahoe News that officers had not told her what was going on. Yellow crime tape surrounded the entire hotel this morning, with part of the driveway open by the afternoon.
— Lake Tahoe News staff report
One shot, one kill
My thoughts are with the officer; having to kill someone is a gut-wrenching experience which he or she will carry around for a long time. Thank you, officer, for your service.
So was the officer in danger or did this kid get a death penalty for evading arrest?
I don’t understand why a police officer would shoot and kill a human being for merely trying to escape out a window. BUT I don’t know the whole story, however if indeed he was shot to death just for trying to escape and did not threaten any of the officers, then?
Love the inflamed title. Typical.
Ban motels.
I need a new TV and some more beer can we riot now?
Wow, your heartless comments are amazing.
I’m guessing another senseless death for whatever reason
but nonetheless deserving better then this.
STP be transparent, the sooner the better.
sounds fishy if this is the official excuse for deadly force.
Its going to get worse, Its summer.
GET RID OF 30 DAY MOTELS FOR GOOD! Seriously though, SLT, lets get behind some nice low income housing projects, and get rid of these hell holes.
So much heroin/meth. It’s absurd.
Hey business, the low income apts in Tahoe are full of heroin and meth too. When they get evicted from the low income apts, they end up in motels. The motels aren’t the problem……nobody wears a sign stating they are an addict. The problem in town are the drugs. Period. Tahoe always has, and is a drug town. You can close down all the motels but then what?
Hope the guy had a weapon in his hand. As long as we are a transient town, we are going to have a drug problem. As long as the city wants to grow GROW GROW, we are going to have big town problems. Building low income apartments isn’t going to help, it just gives (some)drug addicts subsidized housing. Gee, lets just support all the people in need. Then we will have more homeless and mentally ill. It will be so awesome living here! Summer hasn’t even started yet, and we have had two deaths in two days. Gonna be a loooong Summer. And what does “Summer rules your face” mean??
We definetly have an “element” in this town that I don’t want to be around.
I kicked out some suspected druggies and the street is much better now. No more people coming and going at 4 am and then leaving after 5 minutes.
Good new neighbors now and hope it stays that way. OLS
Yawn: good points but I think that drugs are a symptom of a larger problem that is more elusive and harder to address. Subsidized housing is subject to more criteria to isolate ‘drug offenders’ (people with bigger problems) and keep them away from the well intentioned honest workers. Possibly… I am sure some addicts can still game the system but the ones who are problems get the boot.
Re: this situation. I know as little as everyone else. Some deadly force is justified. Take a look at the video from AZ from a few months ago where a family got in a fist fight with police and were absolutely at fault. Officers showed restraint and someone still died. Another person was shot and was still throwing punches at cops. It would be nice if deadly force was justified more often than not. Enter in the human element and expect some chaos.
Check out the kids profile page, Jaez Benslidin. Hes been arrested 4 times in the past 3 months and was facing several years in prison. He got out of jail May 23rd. His page is full of wanna be gangsta stuff, breakin the law and doing drugs. His girlfriend had her own issues. Yes it is someones child, but if you are going to play “gangsta” be willing to pay the consequences.
Yawn…I agree with your second post, but I fail to see how the title was inflammatory.
Don…yep, the sirens have started early this year.
Seriously, are you sure this is the individual who was shot? Source?
Yawn,
Well said. But I do disagree.
I think the motels are a problem because their very presence drags our economy down. Many of them are not up to code, and unsafe for people to live in. I agree we need appropriate housing for the poor here in Tahoe, but the Motels are not the answer. These motels scare tourists away.
I’d assume after you closed down the hotels all the druggies would go elsewhere. That might not be the case, but my suspicion is they would find other places to live in other towns.
So, I assume this cop shot the suspect in the back, if he was escaping out of a window.
And isn’t it doubtful the cop was aware of the background of this guy before he plugged him?
Just sounds a bit fishy
Yes, I am certain. That is his screen nickname.
At the end of the day he had no right to shoot him he didn’t have a gun or anything and to jst fire a gun for no reason you have no heart and that jst means your trigger happy