POLICE SHOOTING: Family mourns for woman - News

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Jun. 14, 2007
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

POLICE SHOOTING: Family mourns for woman

Would-be birthday celebration turns tragic

By DAVID KIHARA
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Kadedra Fowler is comforted by a family member on Wednesday afternoon at a relative's house near Lake Mead and Martin Luther King boulevards. Fowler's 24-year-old sister, Denise Glasco, was shot and killed by Las Vegas police Tuesday morning. Police say Glasco had threatened a motorist and police before the shooting.
Photos by Ronda Churchill

Betty Fowler speaks to the media about her 24-year-old daughter, Denise Glasco, who was shot and killed by Las Vegas police on Tuesday. Fowler holds a photograph of her daughter.

Denise Glasco
Was four months pregnant

More than a dozen relatives of Denise Glasco had planned for months to come to Las Vegas this week to celebrate her 25th birthday.

They wound up coming to mourn her death.

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Glasco, who family members said was four months pregnant, was shot and killed by Las Vegas police Tuesday morning near Martin Luther King and Lake Mead boulevards.

Police said Glasco was waving a knife in the street and had threatened a motorist and police before she was killed. Officers used pepper spray on her, blasted her multiple times with a bean bag shotgun and shocked her with a Taser before they shot her in the chest twice. She had her 3-year-old son with her during the events that led up to her fatal confrontation with police.

Speaking at the house where Glasco had been living about 100 yards from where she was shot, Glasco's relatives said police should have been able to handle the situation without killing the 24-year-old mother of three.

"She had a knife in one hand and a baby in another hand. How is she a threat to police officers with billy clubs, with guns on them, with Tasers and everything?" asked Ann Marlbrough, one of Glasco's cousins.

"They took my baby. They shot my baby for nothing," said Betty Fowler, Glasco's 55-year-old mother, who came to Las Vegas this week from Southern California.

Fowler and other relatives wept openly and asked why police shot her in the chest rather than in an arm or leg.

Sgt. John Loretto, a spokesman for the Las Vegas police, said officers are trained to aim for the "center mass" of a person's torso.

That is done to incapacitate the suspect and to try to reduce the chance that bullets go through a part of the body like a limb and then strike bystanders.

Police were called when Glasco pulled a knife on a customer at a Jack in the Box restaurant at Lake Mead and Martin Luther King about 8 a.m., witnesses and police said.

Officers found her in the parking lot of a nearby pharmacy. She had her son with her, and she was waving a knife, police said.

Police were able to snatch the boy away from her and then used the bean bag shotgun, a Taser and pepper spray on her. Officers shot her when she threatened a motorist with the knife and then came toward police, Las Vegas police Deputy Chief Ted Moody said.

When asked Tuesday why police hadn't just taken the knife from Glasco in the same way that they had grabbed the child, Moody said it's easier to take a large object such as a 3-year-old boy from a suspect than it is to take a smaller object such as a knife.

Police also said Glasco had appeared somewhat immune to the nonlethal force they had used, and she had either not responded to their questions and commands or responded in ways that escalated the situation.

Witnesses said she appeared to be on drugs and was screaming at police.

Several of her family members said Wednesday that Glasco wasn't known to use drugs. She was, however, "mentally challenged," they said.

They believed that Glasco may have become aggressive after her child was taken from her.

"My daughter wouldn't let anyone take her baby," Fowler said.

Authorities took her son to Child Haven, the county's temporary shelter for children. Family members said they will attend a hearing in family court today to get him out of the facility.

Glasco's two other children, ages 6 and 2, live in California with their father.

Glasco moved to Las Vegas from San Bernardino, Calif., in April to stay with family members living here, her relatives said.

Marlin Tribble, Glasco's brother who lives in Arizona, said the family is considering hiring a lawyer to sue the police department.

"We want the facts. We want an investigation," Tribble said.

A coroner's inquest will be conducted into the shooting, police said.

Tanganique Grissom said she was still in shock over the death and keeps expecting her cousin to show up at their house.

"I wish all this was one big joke," Grissom said.

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Please enter your name Name: Please enter your email Email: Please enter a comment COMMENTS : (word count limit is 300) You have reached the maximum number of words allowed Current Word Count: Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background. CHERMORAYAY wrote on September 09, 2008 10:41 AM: WELL IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO COMMENT ON THIS BECAUSE I STILL CANT BELIEVE THEY TOOK MY BF AND I FEEL NOW I CN BETTER EXPLAIN HOW I FEEL.THEY WENT ABOUT IT ALL WRONG I THINK OR BETTER YET KNOW THAT THEY COULD HAVE WENT ABOUT IT IN A DIFFERENT WAY.THEY THAT THE GANGS GOT IT BADD ABOUT KILLING PEOPLE,THE ONLY DIFFERENT IS,IS THAT GANGS HAVE THERE RED/BLUE RAGGES ASS THERE BADGEAND THE CRICKET COPS HAS THERE GOLD STARS THEY BOTH DOING THE SAME DAMN THING KILLING PEOPLE FOR NO REASON.THE POLICE ARE TRAIN FOR THINGS LIKE THIS WHY THEY COULDN'T USE THERE TRAINING IN SUCH A MATTER LIKE THIS? I WANT TO KNOW WAS THEY TOLD THAT IF THEY KILLED AN AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN THAT DAY THAT THEY WOULD GET A RAISE.I DONT MEAN TO COME OFF LIKE THAT BUT ANY ONE WHO KNEW HER WOULD KNOW THAT SHE COULD NEVER BE A TREAT BUT ALWAYS A HELP.FOR THE OFFICERS THAT SHOT HER CAN THEY EXPLAIN TO HER CHILDREN WHAT HAPPEND TO THERE MOTHER AND WHY SHE'S NOT COME HOME BECAUSE IT'S HARD FOR ME TO THINK ABOUT WHAT IS GOING THOUGH HER KIDS HEAD.THE SON THAT THE POLICE TOOK OUT HER ARMS WILL HIS LIFE EVERY BE THE SOME?HE NOW THAT THE POLICE KILLED HIS MOMMIE AND THAT RITE THERE I DON'T THINK THEY WILL BE ABLE TO EXPLAIN TO NO CHILD OF ANY AGE. LOVE YOU NANA GLASCO wrote on June 08, 2008 02:24 PM: WELL IT SEEMS LIKE KNOW BODY CARES IT'S ALMOST BEEN A YEAR AGO, THEY STILL ACT LIKE NOTHING TOOK PLACE. THOSE BASTARDS NEED TO PAY FOR WHAT THEY DID IT'S NOT FAIR. THOSE SO CALLED POLICE, THEY GET TO GO HOME AND SEE THIER KIDS EVERYDAY, WHT ABOUT DENISE KIDS THEY STILL ASK WERES MY MOM IS MY MOM COMING HOME. THAT'S WHAT WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH EVERYDAY FOR THE OF OUR LIFE AND THIER LIFE. THE MURDERS GET TO GO HOME SAY HI AND BY TO THIER FAMILY. WHICH IS NOT RIGHT MY LIL SISTER IS GONE FOR EVER, THEY DIDN'T EVEN SAY SORRY. BUT THEY CAN FIND ALL KIND OF FAKE WITTNESS TO SAY SHE DID THIS SHE DID THAT BUNCH OF BULL SHIT. METRO JUST KILL PEOPLE AND GET AWAY WITH. BUT GOD DON'T NOT LIKE UGLY OUR KILLERS. WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND. YOU JUST REMEMBER THAT THEY GOT LIVE WITH THAT FOR THE REST OF THIER SHORT LIFE. LOST BUT NEVER FORGOTTEN. sequoia wrote on November 06, 2007 09:05 AM: u kno what this wasent coused for at all she was my cousin and she would give her kids the world and she was having another baby what is wrong with u people thats not the buissness and it wasent necessary for them to do that like i said they hurt many people and all they have to do was shoot her in her leg or something and then get her it wasent maid for her to die with a baby in her stomach and 3 more at all it wasent caused for and lots of people were very close to her and had dreams for her and was with her throw thick and thin and u took that away from us PT wrote on June 18, 2007 12:41 PM: VJ, you are begging the question. You are assuming that the cops' non-lethal weapons actually made contact with the suspect. This has not been established in the press reports. Plus, how would you like it if the police policy is to use non-lethal weapons (which are not 100% effective) to neutralize a suspect, but if not neutralized with those weapons they must shoot to kill. In other words, that would indicate to me no police training in hand-to-hand neutralization techniques, chasing on foot, etc. and possibly an overreliance on handguns as a "last resort" when in fact the first-use weapons are often not effective at all. VJ wrote on June 16, 2007 03:22 PM: PT.. HMMMMMMMM SEEMS YOU ARE AVOIDING MY REPLY TO ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE SHOT WITH A TASER,BEANBAG SHOTGUN AND PEPPER SPRAYED. INSTEAD YOU BRING UP A CASE THAT IS OLD AND LONG GONE. PT wrote on June 16, 2007 01:35 PM: Look what the Vegas Police Protection Assoc. will try to do to quash lawsuits against police officers. They tried to pay for attorneys to sue the family of a co-defendant (the teenager who was shot in the back while handcuffed and running from a police car, happened in 2006) to dissuade that family from filing a lawsuit agains the police force. This is amazing! http://www.klas-tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5179210 PT wrote on June 16, 2007 12:57 PM: Gee whiz, how did this story not appear in either of the LV major newspaper yet this year. This was an Associated Press story. http://www.kesq.com/Global/story.asp?S=6285502&nav=9qrx VJ wrote on June 15, 2007 05:09 PM: PT.. YOU NEED TO READ THE FACTS OR BETTER YET, YOU AND THE OTHER BLEEDING HEARTS NEED TO GO AND TRY GETTING PEPPERED SPRAYED..HIT WITH A TASER..SHOT WITH A BEANBAG SHOTGUN.. THEN YOU CAN TELL US IF IT WAS EFFECTIVE IN KNOCKING YOU ON YOUR A$$..ALSO LET US KNOW, IF YOU THINK IT WOULD HAVE KNOCKED DOWN OR KNOCKED OUT A 140LB WOMAN, WHO WASN'T ON DRUGS. PT DON'T BE A COP HATER, MAYBE SOMEDAY WHEN A CRIMINAL IS HOLDING A GUN OR KNIFE TO YOUR HEAD OR THROAT ROBBING YOU. YOU MAY HAVE TO REPLY ON A METRO. COP TO HELP YOU.. OH YES AND THE ONES, WHO SAID THEY COULD HAVE DISARMED HER WITH CLUBS OR SHOT HER IN THE ARM OR LEG (THESE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO ALSO BELIEVE IN SANTA CLAUS..EASTER BUNNY AND THE TOOTH FAIRY)..THEY WOULD HAVE HAD A LARGER CHANCE OF HURTING SOME OTHER PERSON IF THE BULLET PASSED THROUGH THE ARM OR LEG. ALSO UNLESS THE OFFICER IS A EXPERT MARKSMEN WITH A HANDGUN, THERE IS ALSO A LARGE CHANCE OF MISSING THE SUBJECT AND HURTING OR KILLING A INOCENT PERSON(S) PT wrote on June 15, 2007 04:46 PM: Go watch the movie "L.A. Confidential" this weekend. Enjoy! You guys have your noses too close to the vegas casino economy (one-industry town) to look up and examine your surroundings. All the "facts" you guys are spouting are specifically those attested to SO FAR by the police. No independent set of facts has been publicized. Learn some skepticism! Jennifer wrote on June 15, 2007 03:47 PM: Wow PT...I give you credit for sticking to your opinion. You are however, in the minority here. The general consensus here is the police were justified in shooting the woman after all other measures were taken to stop her without killing her. If you feel that metro is so horrible, it might be a good idea to leave Las Vegas. I personally feel much more safe knowing that LVMPD is here to protect me and my family from crazed people holding weapons in the general public. You would need their protection too if you were there when this happened. They did everything they possibly could in the time frame they had to prevent an INNOCENT BYSTANDER from being hurt. The choices she made led to her death. Let's leave it at that. Read All Comments