LAS VEGAS (AP) — Authorities provided new details about the sequence of events in the killings of two Las Vegas police officers in a restaurant and a shopper at a nearby Wal-Mart.
Las Vegas police say a married couple carried out the fatal shootings before killing themselves. Here’s what Assistant Sheriff Kevin McMahill says happened late Sunday morning:
LUNCH BREAK TURNS DEADLY: At 11:22 a.m., Officers Alyn Beck and Igor Soldo are taking their lunch break at CiCi’s Pizza when Jerad Miller comes inside, looks around and then goes back out. He re-enters with his wife, Amanda, and they head toward the officers, who are seated in a booth. As the couple passes, Jerad Miller pulls a handgun and shoots Soldo once in the back of the head. He dies immediately. As Beck tries to react, Jerad Miller shoots him in the throat. Amanda Miller grabs her handgun, and the couple open fire on Beck.
With both officers dead, the Millers pull them from the booth onto the ground. They drape a yellow “Don’t tread on me” flag over Beck’s body along with a swastika. Jerad Miller then pins a note on Soldo that says, “This is the beginning of the revolution.” The two gather the officers’ weapons and ammunition and the backpacks of ammunition they brought along and head to a nearby Wal-Mart.
A SHOPPER’S CONFRONTATION: Minutes later, the Millers enter the store, and Jerad Miller fires a single shot, telling shoppers to get out and saying this is a revolution and police are on their way. Joseph Wilcox, 31, standing in line and armed with a concealed weapon, sees them and tells a friend he is going to confront them. He moves toward Jerad Miller, not realizing Amanda Miller is with him. As he starts to confront the man, Amanda Miller shoots him in the ribs.
SUSPECTS CORNERED: The Millers make their way to the back of the store. Two teams of police officers trained to respond to shootings arrive, one team entering from the front of the store and the other from the back and they fan out in formation. They trade gunfire with the couple, as the Millers move toward the automotive section. An officer takes shelter in a security office, where he and a Wal-Mart employee monitor surveillance cameras and relay information to the teams about the suspects’ whereabouts.
As the officers close in, the Millers sit and lie on the ground, ready to further engage police. Jared Miller builds a barricade of items from the store around his wife. But instead of shooting at police, Amanda Miller, suffering a bullet wound, fatally shoots her husband. Then, she turns the gun on herself, ending the rampage.
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