Watch: Officer Subdues Murder Suspect With Barrage of Gunfire Out of Front Windshield
When an individual dies or is injured at the hands of law enforcement, critics of the police often use police body camera footage to — rightly or wrongly — villify the actions of the officers involved in the incident.
Rarely, however, do we see body camera footage of police officers that shows how their incredible training gets put into practice with their lives on the line.
Body camera footage released Monday by the Las Vegas Metro Police Department shows a high-speed pursuit from last week that ended when an officer finally subdued the suspects by firing shots at the fleeing car through the front windshield of his squad car.
The video comes from the body camera of officer William Umana as he pursued a vehicle that was being driving by 30-year-old Rene Nunez. His passenger was 22-year-old Fidel Miranda. The two men were suspects in the shooting death of a Las Vegas man earlier that day.
The chase began around 9:30 a.m. on July 11 when police spotted a vehicle that matched the description of a 2000 Ford Expedition that the suspects were seen driving.
The two men took off in the vehicle and police pursued them. As you watch the video, you can hear popping sounds in the background and Umana relaying to dispatchers, “Shots fired! Shots fired!”
Most of the pursuit took place on busy city streets, with the suspects driving the wrong way at one point and narrowly missed hitting other vehicles stopped at a red light. Umana remained on their tail, but had to stay a safe distance back because of the shots being fired at him.
At one point, the suspects began driving down a narrow street in a residential area. Their vehicle slowed and Umana got closer. He also rolled down his driver’s side window and had his gun drawn.
The narrow road prevented Umana from pulling up alongside the suspects’ vehicle. Video footage shows the passenger turn his head to look out the back window and raising his arms, potentially to try shooting at the officer again.
Umana had a surprise waiting for them, however, quickly firing five shots through the squad car’s front windshield. About two blocks later, he fired off six more shots through the windshield
As the vehicle slowed, Umana was able to fire more shots outside his driver-side window. The driver, Nunez, jumped out of the car as it rolled up to an elementary school. Nunez attempted to enter the school but the door was locked.
Miranda, meanwhile, tried to slide into the driver’s seat and backup the vehicle. Umana had exited the car at this point, gun drawn on the SUV. Not seen in the video is a second officer, who approached the vehicle on the passenger side. That officer fired off a shot that struck Miranda, who eventually died at the scene.
In all, police determined the two suspects fired 34 shots during the pursuit. One police car was hit by the bullets, preventing it from continuing the pursuit. A civilian’s car was also hit, but luckily no injuries were reported from any of the shots fired by the suspects.
Metro PD Assistant Sheriff Tim Kelly praised the actions of Umana and Solomon as heroic.
“The officer could have backed off, but he didn’t,” he said, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Watch the video of this chase multiple times and each time you’ll pick up another amazing piece of police work by Umana. Driving in a high-speed pursuit takes a lot of skill, especially trying to negotiate traffic and communicating with dispatchers and other units while being shot at.
His bold move of shooting at suspects while driving and firing through the windshield is incredible to watch. He also managed to fire out the driver’s side window with the gun in his right hand while maintaining control of his vehicle with his left.
Nunez faces multiple charges of murder with a deadly weapon and attempted murder with a deadly weapon. He is currently being held in jail without bail.
Fortunately, the death toll from Nunez’s reckless behavior didn’t increase as he led police on this dangerous chase. Umana deserves a lot of credit for risking his life to stop this dangerous man and his accomplice.
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