Police shoot man at Las Vegas airport

LAS VEGAS - Police shot and wounded a man at the city's international airport Tuesday after he grabbed a 3-year-old boy at knifepoint and ran through a security area, authorities said.

The child was unharmed and returned to his mother, who was at the airport, said Elaine Sanchez, spokeswoman for McCarran International Airport. The man was taken to a hospital.

"The system worked," Sanchez said. "As soon as the breach occurred, the police were in place and the system worked."

After the 25-year-old man grabbed the boy, he ran through an exit lane intended for passengers leaving the gates, officials said.

Three officers confronted him at the other side of the checkpoint, police said. One used a Taser gun to stun the man, police said.

He dropped the child and charged at the officers, said police spokesman Jose Montoya. Two officers each fired once.

The checkpoint was shut down for about 10 minutes, but there were no delays or interruptions of service at the airport, one of the nation's busiest, Sanchez said.

Las Vegas police shot a knife-wielding 19-year-old man at McCarran International Airport after he grabbed a 3-year-old Clark County boy and ran past a security checkpoint Tuesday afternoon, authorities said.

Police identified the suspect as Michael John Allgood of Oregon.

Police said they learned that Allgood suffers from mental illness and has a previous violent confrontation with police.

About 4:30 p.m., the suspect had snatched the child from the Kid's Wear and Toys store across from the security checkpoint for the A and B gates, said authorities and Blanca Gomez, a worker at the store.

Gomez said she was working when the boy and his mother came into the store. The suspect had been walking through the store alone for a few minutes before he picked up the child as the boy was playing with toy cars near the rear of the store, Gomez said.

The man ran out of the store with the boy under his arm, and "the mother was screaming, 'My baby! My baby!'" Gomez said. "I was so scared."

Allgood then ran toward the security checkpoint and went the wrong way through the checkpoint's exit lane, setting off an alarm, authorities said.

Still carrying the child, he was confronted by three Las Vegas police officers who were on patrol near the Brookstone store, and the man held a 4-inch serrated blade to the boy's throat, police said.

Two Las Vegas police captains gave slightly different versions of what happened next.

Capt. Terry Lesney of the crimes against youth and family unit said one of the officers shot the suspect with a Taser. The voltage weakened the man, who let go of the boy and fell down. The boy ran away. The suspect, with knife in hand, then got back to his feet and lunged toward the officers, Lesney said.

Two officers then each fired a shot, and the man was struck by two bullets, Lesney said.

But Capt. James Dillon of the robbery and homicide unit, which investigates police shootings, said hours later that the Taser and the two handguns were all fired at about the same time.

He said Allgood had moved the knife away from the child's throat and lunged toward the officers as the boy moved away. That is when the officers used their weapons, he said.

Dillon attributed the discrepancies in the accounts to Lesney working with preliminary information.

Allgood was taken to University Medical Center and was in critical condition late Tuesday, Dillon said.

If Allgood survives, he is expected to face several charges, including kidnapping with the use of a deadly weapon and felony child endangerment, Dillon said.

The 3-year-old was unharmed physically, Dillon said.

Lesney said that the preliminary investigation found no ties between the boy and his family and the suspect.

Authorities think the incident was isolated and not tied to terrorist activity, Lesney said.

At the Marshall Rousso clothing store along the concourse, Shannon Bracken said she and a co-worker peeked out of the store when they saw a man run past followed by Las Vegas police officers.

"We heard gunshots, and all of a sudden people were running in every direction," she said.

Bracken, her co-workers and a few customers ran into the store's stockroom for cover and waited for an all-clear, which came about 10 minutes later, she said.

Donald Coday, an employee of Gallery of Collectibles, said he ushered people into his store after the shots were fired. He heard a woman from the nearby Borders bookstore yell, "Someone's been shot!"

Kim Hewitt, who works at Mr. Boxer, said she got curious when she saw officers run past her store toward the checkpoint. She started walking after them when the commotion began.

"I heard someone yell, 'Gunshot,' so I turned around and booked it back to the store," she said.

Witnesses said there was some panicking in the terminal as people scrambled for cover.

But within half an hour, it was business as usual. Many passengers were walking through the checkpoint for the A and B gates without delays.

Some showed only brief interest in the yellow blockades set up around the shooting scene.

The shooting did not affect any incoming or departing flights at McCarran, airport officials said.

Police are withholding the names of the officers involved in the shooting for 48 hours, in accordance with department policy.

The shooting at the airport was the second involving Las Vegas police on Tuesday afternoon.

About 20 minutes earlier, police shot and wounded a man in an unrelated incident on the 5900 block of Washington Avenue, near Jones Boulevard.

The shooting at McCarran was the 17th shooting this year involving Las Vegas police officers. At least seven of those were fatal shootings.

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