A man allegedly trying to steal a gun from a Las Vegas gun range attacked a female police officer with a screwdriver before being shot 14 times as he tried to flee the scene.

The suspect’s name is Marvin Payton Jr. and he was reportedly shot dead by employees and another officer as he attempted to get away. He has a criminal history having previously been accused of trying to kill another officer in North Las Vegas just last week who was investigating a car theft, the Las Vegas Sun reported.

Payton, who may have been mentally ill, allegedly tried to steal her gun. That female officer had at least one stab wound and suffered a broken bone in her face. She survived and was released from the hospital.

Because of that assault, Payton had previously been charged with attempted murder, attempted robbery of a firearm, and assault on a protected person. After numerous competency hearings, Payton was sentenced to three to five years in prison on a charge of attempted grand larceny of a firearm.

(Video Credit: LiveLeak)

After Payton, 27, attacked the officer outside of the gun range and she fell to the ground, he tried to run away before being shot multiple times. It was all caught on video. He had allegedly been in the process of attempting to steal a gun from The Range 702 indoor shooting facility.

According to Assistant Sheriff Brett Zimmerman, the female officer’s colleague Officer Andrew Nguyen fired his gun nine times. It is unknown how many shots were fired by the employees. Zimmerman doesn’t believe there has been another incident like this one that has ever occurred in Las Vegas.

The incident played out very quickly. The officers involved apparently did not even have time to activate their body cams before they found themselves confronted by the suspect.

The altercation began when an employee reported that they had caught Payton going through a customer’s bag allegedly looking to steal a gun during a break from a concealed carry permit class. At that point, the range called the police and reported the incident, according to the Las Vegas Sun.

The cops arrived and summoned Payton over but he allegedly would not comply, so officers went to him and attempted to subdue him by grabbing his arms after he resisted arrest. That was when Payton pulled out the screwdriver and started swinging, as seen in footage. He stabbed the female officer twice before turning to run away as she fell to the ground. Her partner and the three employees pursued Payton, firing as they went.

The Clark County District Attorney’s Office will now get the case and decide if criminal charges are appropriate in the matter against the gun range employees. The shooters were not identified but since they acted in defense of a police officer in conjunction with her partner, it is doubtful charges will be forthcoming. No charges have been filed yet.

“Looking at the video, they saw the same thing our officers did,” Zimmerman said. “Their involvement actually helped our officer and could’ve saved our officer’s life.”

This was the first shooting this year in Vegas involving a police officer.

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Terresa Monroe-Hamilton

Staff Writer at BizPac Review

Terresa Monroe-Hamilton is a Constitutional Conservative who researches and writes extensively on politics and current events.

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