Clark County holds public fact-finding review after officer-involved shooting that killed Jose Luis Saenz

Clark County held a public fact-finding review on records and body-worn camera footage from the Feb. 20, 2024, officer-involved shooting that killed Jose Luis Saenz, after the Clark County District Attorney's Office made a preliminary determination that no criminal prosecution of the officers was appropriate.

Mandy McKellar, the presiding officer for the public review, opened the hearing and said the proceeding's purpose was to present the public with essential facts; it was not a trial. Chief Deputy District Attorney Kenneth Paul Ports presented the case file and called Detective Robert Chavez of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department's Force Investigation Team as a witness.

Detective Chavez summarized the department's investigation. Officers responded shortly before 1 a.m. to a call at a TitleMax parking lot near Eastern Avenue and Sahara Avenue reporting a man cutting his arm. Chavez said the decedent, identified in the investigative file as Jose Luis Saenz, was unhoused and sleeping in a tent in the lot. A witness identified as "JJ" told investigators Saenz had been cutting his left forearm and said he was depressed and did not want to continue living.

Chavez testified that when officers arrived they observed the decedent holding a long metal bar, later measured and documented as a 29-inch metal piece with blood on it. Chavez said officers first attempted verbal commands to get the man to stop and that Officer Clover deployed a 40-millimeter specialty impact (less-lethal) projectile, which struck the decedent and caused him to fall briefly. According to Chavez's account of interviewed officers, Saenz got back up and advanced toward officers with the metal object raised.

"The decedent...walked towards the officers with what appeared to be a long metal bar," Detective Robert Chavez testified during the review. Chavez said witness officers described the object as capable of killing a person.

Detective Chavez identified two subject officers who fired lethal rounds: Officer Joshua Romanski, whose service weapon was described in the report as a Sig Sauer P320 AXG Pro 9 mm (the investigation found he fired three rounds), and Officer Paul Guerrero (the investigation found he fired two rounds). Chavez also said Officer Clover fired one 40-millimeter foam projectile prior to the lethal shots. Crime-scene measurements presented at the review placed Officer Clover about 21 feet, 6 inches from the decedent when the 40-millimeter round was fired; Officer Romanski was documented at approximately 18 feet, 9 inches when he fired; Officer Guerrero was documented at about 15 feet, 8 inches when he fired.

Chavez told the panel that investigators reviewed body-worn camera footage from several officers and that some clips were presented during the hearing, though technical problems caused intermittent blackouts on at least one recording. The department also conducted officer walk-throughs with union attorneys assisting the subject officers, and crime-scene analysts photographed and measured the location.

The review included medical findings. Chavez said the Clark County autopsy, conducted by Dr. Stacy Simmons, listed the cause of death as multiple gunshot wounds and the manner of death as homicide. Toxicology results, as reported in the investigation, showed ethanol (alcohol), amphetamines and methamphetamine in the decedent's system. Chavez also described deep incised wounds to the decedent's left forearm consistent with the witness reports that he had been cutting himself prior to officers' arrival.

Chavez provided a timeline drawn from the investigative materials: the initial call was recorded just after 12:41 a.m.; Officer Romanski arrived within minutes and radioed that the subject had a large knife or sword; the less-lethal 40-millimeter round was deployed and then, approximately 10–20 seconds later, subject officers discharged their firearms; life-saving measures were started by officers within about a minute after the shooting; medical personnel took over and transported the decedent to Sunrise Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at about 1:12 a.m., per the investigative timeline presented.

Josh Tomsic, the county-appointed ombudsman representing both the public and the Saenz family during the review, had the opportunity to ask questions of Detective Chavez. Tomsic and McKellar both asked questions during the proceeding; the transcript and video of the hearing are public records.

At no point during the public fact-finding review did the proceeding render any formal legal finding on the manner or cause of death beyond summarizing the investigative and autopsy reports; the review was held because of the district attorney's preliminary determination not to file criminal charges. The review record and hearing video are available through Clark County's website.

The presiding officer closed the hearing after testimony and public information were presented and advised that a full transcript and video are available online.