Mom regrets dialing 911

Crouched on all fours in a northwest valley street, Alma Chavez wept over pavement touched by the blood of her 23-year-old son, who was shot and killed last week by Las Vegas police.

As the unforgiving summer sun pelted down on her back Tuesday afternoon, Chavez swore she could still see the stain that spread over Firestone Drive after he was shot multiple times in a Thursday morning confrontation with officers near Buffalo and Westcliff drives.

Chavez, an employee with Clark County's Department of Family Services, said she regrets calling 911 and telling police that her son was distraught. All she wanted was for her son, who had ulcerative colitis, to calm down.

"They just killed him, like if he were a dog, with no warning," Chavez cried out while kneeling. "They didn't even try to talk to him. I called them for help. I call them to calm him down, not to kill my baby."

Police said Rafael "Ralfy" Olivas ignored their orders to drop his knife. Instead, he began to approach officers. Officers fired four beanbag shotgun rounds at Olivas, which didn't stop him. He continued toward police and was fatally shot by two officers.

Chavez's recollection of the shooting contradicts some key details that have been released by police. But a full recounting of the facts in the case might not happen for months because the public process that delves into police shootings, the Clark County coroner's inquest, now faces a court challenge that has delayed scheduled hearings.

Police spokesman Marcus Martin on Tuesday declined to comment on the Olivas shooting, citing the ongoing investigation.

Chavez also disputed the comments of one family member who told the Las Vegas Review-Journal her son had wanted to die. She said her son had no intention of taking his life in a "suicide by cop."

"I just want the whole world to know my baby was a wonderful kid, full of life," she said. Police "killed his dreams, his goals. They stopped everything."

Police said that Olivas was "waving" a knife as he walked toward officers. Chavez said her son walked toward police with his hands at his side. The knife, in his left hand, was never lifted in a threatening manner, she contended.

Chavez also said she never heard police tell her son to drop the knife.

The fatal shooting occurred at 6:46 a.m., police said. That morning, Chavez said, her son and his girlfriend had been fighting in her home. Chavez said the argument began at 6 a.m. after Olivas' girlfriend told him not to talk to her mom in a disrespectful manner. The argument escalated after the girlfriend said she was leaving. If she left, Olivas told her, she needed to take all her things with her.

Chavez said she tried to calm her son. She said Olivas was loud but not violent. He had never been violent to her or anyone in the past, she said.

Chavez was concerned because Olivas had ulcerative colitis, which was aggravated by stress.

Chavez called 911 for help. More than once, she asked for a specialized team to help her distraught son.

"I called 911, and I told the lady to please make sure to send me the specialized team," Chavez said. "I told them my son was extremely angry. He was out of control but was not going to do anything to anybody."

Chavez said Olivas did not have a history of depression or mental illness.

The Metropolitan Police Department does have crisis intervention specialists, but it's unclear whether they were dispatched Thursday morning.

Chavez said her son heard her call 911 and became even more upset. That's when he reached for a kitchen knife. She closed a drawer on him, but he was able to grab a knife before walking out of the home.

Chavez said she followed her son out the door and onto Firestone.

She stayed about 50 yards behind her son, who walked south on Firestone. A patrol car arrived, and in less than 5 seconds she heard at least three rounds of what she now knows were shots from a beanbag shotgun.

Chavez said she did not hear any officer order Olivas to drop the knife before the beanbags were fired. The beanbags didn't affect her son, Chavez said, and he continued to walk.

Meanwhile, Chavez said, she saw at least three more police cars arrive on Firestone. Two additional cars blocked the street from Westcliff.

Chavez, who estimated she was then between 100 and 150 yards away from her son, said she then heard 14 gunshots. Again, Chavez claimed there was no order from officers to her son to drop the knife. She was unsure about the distance between officers and her son. Chavez said she did not clearly see the shooting because she was too far away.

Less than a minute passed between the time Olivas was shot with beanbags and when he was fatally shot, Chavez said.

After Olivas was shot, Chavez sprinted toward her son, but one officer physically restrained her, she said.

Chavez doesn't know why Olivas grabbed the knife or why he didn't drop it as he approached officers. She guessed that he was in shock after being hit by the beanbag rounds.

Olivas was pronounced dead at University Medical Center.

Christopher Grivas, 30, and David Hager, 33, have been identified as the officers who fired their weapons in the shooting. Both officers were hired by the department in June 2005. Both have been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation.

Las Vegas Police Protective Association union President Chris Collins said that although he can't say definitively, he doubts some aspects of Chavez's story.

Las Vegas police trained to investigate officer-involved shootings might not have all the details themselves. At the direction of the unions' attorneys, Grivas and Hager have not spoken to police investigators, Collins said.

Police unions representing officers in Las Vegas, Henderson and North Las Vegas have advised officers not to make statements to investigators who gather evidence for the inquest process.

Collins said he hasn't seen a questionable police shooting.

"When someone convinces me an officer committed a homicide on duty, we won't be there at the scene with an attorney," he said.

Las Vegas police officers have been involved in 12 cases this year in which at least one officer fired a weapon on duty. Nine of those cases resulted in deaths.

Earlier this month, county officials postponed the first revamped coroner's inquest because of a pending constitutional challenge filed by the Las Vegas police officers involved. The inquest into the fatal shooting of Benjamin Hunter Bowman had been scheduled to start July 12.

Officers Phillip Zaragoza, Michael Franco and Peter Kruse shot Bowman as he held a knife to the throat of a bartender at a PT's Pub in November.

The union contends the new rules transformed the inquest from a fact-finding process into an adversarial process.

The change at the heart of the dispute was the introduction of an ombudsman who can directly question witnesses on behalf of family members of the deceased.

Chavez said she is trying to pick up the pieces of her life and wants justice for her son.

She described her son as artistic and musically inclined. He graduated from Mojave High School and worked at Best Buy. He recently obtained a student loan to attend the College of Southern Nevada.

Chavez said her son was selfless. Every month, he was responsible for paying the electric bill along with the Internet and phone bills.

He also had a giving nature and big dreams.

"I promise you one day I'm going to be rich and famous. I'm going to buy a huge house for you," Chavez recalled her son saying. "See, beautiful, I'm going to make it."

Review-Journal writer Brian Haynes contributed to this report. Contact reporter Antonio Planas at aplanas@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4638.

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Comments

Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background.

1. bghs1986 Jul. 23, 2011 | 8:49 p.m. Report Abuse

   I don't get you RKP, you have stated previously that you feel about 10% of all fatal officer involved shootings occur without any provocation. So why are you whining when people question if this is one of that 10%.

2. Deserthawk42 Jul. 23, 2011 | 8:05 a.m. Report Abuse

   Joe C...........I like your comment about the single mom who shouldn't "spread her legs" so often. I agree with you!
   Also.....you reap what you sow!

3. ecko1885 Jul. 22, 2011 | 11:29 a.m. Report Abuse

   Sorry, "Pin", you trying to communicate with me using Morse code or something? Seeing a lot of periods & jumbled letters in that response, something wrong with your keyboard? So I'm a punk kid that doesn't know what I'm talking about, cops are people too, if I call 911 I should expect someone to show up & Karma is a "something" that uses 13 letters! OK...got it. Nice come back I'm sort of speechless. Talk to you the next time there is a shooting, should be in a couple weeks.

4. taxedout Jul. 22, 2011 | 8:34 a.m. Report Abuse

   So, some of y'all think Metro has too many shootings? In all reality, Metro is in the norm for a big city. Here are some of Houston/Harris county Texas number as publish by the Houston Chronicle.....Grand jury has cleared 22
   Since January, Harris County grand jurors have deemed as justified the actions of 22 officers involved in 21 shootings and one officer in a vehicle homicide case from 2010 and this year. Including Butler, six civilians were killed in those incidents and more than a dozen were wounded. Most of the officers whose on and off duty actions have been considered by grand juries this year - 14 - were employed by HPD.
   The city's police officers were involved in 27 shootings in 2010 in which seven civilians were killed and 20 were wounded, according to figures provided by HPD.
   
   
   Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7664256.html#ixzz1Sqfq9MdB

5. RealityKingpin Jul. 21, 2011 | 8:53 p.m. Report Abuse

   Look kid.....You clearly dont know anything on the subject....so you resport to veiled threats....look........Better to keep quiet and thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt. Newsflash.....These Officers are real people......real families.....Real kids at home....Bills....deaths...so on and so forth......just becasue media and movies would love to pit good versus evil....and in courrent times to attack anything that is good...in hopes to find any shred or impropriety.........Its easy to sit back and complain.....but despite all the commentary ....at the end of the day, all anyoen has to do is dial 3 numbers at any time or day and those same folks you mock will come and help.....people shooting...they come....natural disaster ...theyll come. To sit her under anonymity and mock them is sick...and karmas a !@#$#%^&@#^&.

6. Franklin.Schumer Jul. 21, 2011 | 8:45 p.m. Report Abuse

   Hey here's a really crazy and novel idea, how about raising your kids the right way? You know so they don't grab a knife and walk towards armed police officers? Maybe just maybe instead of acting like a thug he would actually have some respect for his parents where they wouldn't have to call the police in the first place? Amazing I know and unfortunately asking much too much.

7. ecko1885 Jul. 21, 2011 | 6:08 p.m. Report Abuse

   It sucks doesn't it? Not being able to bully your way around and crack down on people questioning you. You think every place you guys walk in to everyone in that room is looking up to you and thinks your the good guys. Think we aren't watching if you pay for your bill, where you park, how long you stay, what you do when you leave, how many times you send a message on your phone, believe me there are plenty of people who talk about it. You know what the most frequent comment is, "Our tax dollars hard at work". No record just a concerned citizen who reads the paper, pays attention to the screen names, reads the one-sided posts and concludes most of you clowns are cops ganging up on the tax payers who pay your salary. Why else would you be hanging on to a two day old post? Feel free to throw out your name and badge number "Gladiator". By your logic only people who have had run ins with the law would question an article and posts like these? Hate to burst your bubble but, there are people out there that consider this place home and actually care what happens around their neighborhood. This includes the police who are suppose to be serving the community not abusing it. See you at lunch tomorrow.

8. Quintus Maximus Jul. 21, 2011 | 4:21 p.m. Report Abuse

   So If I read Eckos response to RKP correctly , you didnt answer the question. You in fact , do not have any experience in these things. Yet speak as though you do. What is you area of expertise? Sounds like you have a pretty serious issue with Law Enforcement.....one might say you are attached. Get it.......??? For someone to take time out to rant on here about cops, there must be a pretty big issue> Care to share....or are you just a coward with a MAC.

9. David Jul. 21, 2011 | 3:06 p.m. Report Abuse

   If anyone thinks law enforcement officials are anything else than violent gang bangers, they are not dealing in reaility. CommonSenseLV is simply not paying attention to the world around him and see cops with rose colored glasses for what ever reason. The bad cop stories across the country are too many to count each day.

10. CommonSenseLV Jul. 21, 2011 | 1:46 p.m. Report Abuse

    No I don't get free lunches, I make my own. I only get something for free when I earn it. I only post when people need to get a grip on reality. What people think they know and what they really know are two things. What most people post in the RJ is complete BS because they live in a fantasy world of TV and movies. Once you take the blinders off real life is to much of a shock for average citizen. You want the cops out of a job then stop breaking the law! Stupid people and law breakers are job security for metro. I'm not a cop just someone with some common sense.

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