Metro keeps negligent gun discharge investigation secret

Las Vegas police officers unintentionally fire their weapons at least twice a year on the job, according to a union official, but the results of investigations into those incidents are often kept secret.

That has been the case for a Sept. 25 incident in which a Metropolitan Police Department officer responding to a stolen-vehicle call in the west valley “negligently discharged his firearm” as an SUV fled, according to police.

Metro declined to name the officer, but a report provided by Las Vegas Justice Court identified him as Officer Crosby.

That afternoon, the car’s owner called police and said he was tracking his stolen Toyota Highlander, according to the report. Patrol officers found the vehicle occupied by a man later identified as 44-year-old Travis Wright at Star Cluster Circle and Silver Sky Drive.

When the officers approached the vehicle, Wright drove off, police said in the report. As he did so, Crosby “negligently discharged his firearm and did not hit the vehicle or suspect,” the report stated.

Wright continued driving and later rammed the SUV into two Metro patrol vehicles before stopping. He and his passenger were taken into custody, though the passenger was released at the scene.

Wright was charged with two felony counts of battery on a first responder and one felony count of possessing, receiving or transferring a stolen vehicle. He is being held on $25,000 bail, court records show.

The report contains no additional information about the circumstances of the police shooting.

Metro Capt. Adam Seely provided limited details about the shooting during a brief news conference hours later, but the department has released no additional information.

Seely said “negligent” is synonymous with “accidental,” in these cases.

“The officer approached the vehicle, drew his firearm, and began giving verbal commands to the suspect to exit the vehicle. The suspect did not comply with the officer and began to drive away at a high rate of speed,” Seely said then. “While the suspect was driving away at a high rate of speed, our LVMPD officer negligently discharged his firearm.”

The shooting will be investigated by the department’s internal affairs bureau, he added.

The lack of disclosure contrasts with officer-involved shootings, in which an officer intentionally fires a weapon and investigation findings are typically made public.

These shootings are investigated by Metro’s Force Investigation Team. Under the department’s use-of-force policy, the team identifies the officer 48 hours after the incident. Within 72 hours, a lieutenant and a representative of the sheriff’s office hold an in-person briefing.

A Metro spokesperson said that the department is not required to do the same for investigations into negligent discharges.

The department’s public records unit has denied the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s requests for body-camera footage from the incident. The department’s public information office also has not responded to multiple emailed requests for Officer Crosby’s first name, the type of weapon he was carrying and whether officers face discipline for negligent discharges.

Crosby is in full duty status, a Metro spokesperson said Friday.

Steve Grammas, president of the Las Vegas Police Protective Association, said punishment for officers who negligently fire their weapons depends on the circumstances and can range from a minor discipline to termination.

The union representative said he could not share details of the investigation into Crosby’s actions.

Charles Joe Key, a former Baltimore police lieutenant and policing expert who has analyzed hundreds of unintentional police shootings on the East Coast, said modern firearm safeguards make cases of guns “accidentally going off” virtually nonexistent.

He said the seriousness of an unintentional discharge cannot be overstated.

“Any negligent or unintentional discharge invites similar situations,” Key said. “It’s almost worse than an intentional discharge because when that bullet leaves the gun, someone can die and you didn’t even mean for it to happen.”

Contact Akiya Leggio at aleggio@reviewjournal.com.