ASSISTANT SHERIFF BRIEFS MEDIA ON DEC. 16, 2013 OFFICER INVOLVED SHOOTING
947 views · Published 20 December 2013 · 5:35 · Indexed 1 November 2026
Channel: Las Vegas Metropolitan Police · 2013 · Education
Assistant Sheriff Joe Lombardo met with the media today at 12:00 p.m. to discuss additional details concerning the recent officer involved shooting which occurred at 3217 East University Avenue. On Monday, December 16, 2013 at 9:37 p.m. the LVMPD Dispatch Center received a 911 call from a man who said his roommate, later identified as 39-year old Jose Barrios-Aguilar, was threatening suicide by injecting himself with poison. Officers and medical personnel were dispatched to the above address and met with the caller in front of the residence. The caller advised Aguilar was distraught and had injected himself with poison. The caller also indicated there was a shotgun inside of the residence but his roommate had never touched it before and most likely did not have access to the weapon. Officers then approached the residence to check the welfare of Aguilar. Officers called out several times through the open front door and asked Aguilar to come downstairs. After several minutes, Aguilar was seen descending the stairs with a shotgun pointed in the officers' direction. An on-scene supervisor then ordered officers to retreat and began to treat the situation as a barricade. Officers then took up positions of cover outside of the residence and additional officers were requested. A short time later, Aguilar exited the front door of the residence with the shotgun in his hands. Officers ordered him to drop the shotgun and get on the ground. Aguilar did not immediately comply and began to wave the shotgun in several directions. He eventually put the shotgun down on the driveway and lay down next to it. Aguilar was told to crawl away from the shotgun which he started to do. As he was crawling, he suddenly leaped up and reached for the shotgun. Officers Ronald Thoma and Todd Fasulo Jr. then fired their weapons, striking him in the leg. Aguilar fell to the ground and officers approached to take him into custody and render aid. Aguilar then jumped up a second time and was tackled and restrained by officers. Medical assistance was rendered to Aguilar and he was then transported to the Sunrise Trauma center where he remains as of this release. He has been booked in absentia into the Clark County Detention Center and is charged with: • Assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer (2 counts), and • Resisting a public officer with a weapon. Officers Thoma and Fasulo have been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of reviews of this incident by the Clark County District Attorney's Office and the LVMPD Critical Incident Review Team.
