A Las Vegas police officer fired 11 shots through his windshield during a recent chase. (Photo: Youtube Screenshot)
Police have released body cam footage from a wild shootout that took place in Las Vegas last week.
In a scene more reminiscent of Hollywood than real life, Officer William Umana of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department can be seen exchanging over 60 rounds of gunfire with two men suspected of fleeing the scene of a homicide.
“When you look at that video, you get a clear picture of what officers were dealing with,” Assistant Sheriff Tim Kelly said in a press conference. “In my opinion, they showed bravery and heroics we come to expect from our officers.”
The two suspects, Fidel Miranda and Rene Nunez, were armed with a S&W 40VE, a Glock 21 .45ACP, and a Taurus PT111. They fired 34 rounds during the pursuit and casings were collected from five separate locations. Umana fired 31 rounds of 9mm from his Gen 3 RTF2 Glock 17, and another officer fired one round from a Remington 870 shotgun.
Miranda was killed in the exchange while Nunez was arrested attempting to flee.
In the video, the suspects begin firing shots at Umana’s car during the pursuit, and the officer ducks low in his seat to avoid being hit, though none of the rounds appear to strike Umana’s vehicle. He stays in pursuit for several minutes before another police SUV joins the chase and takes fire from the suspects as well.
After another minute, Umana pulls directly behind the suspect’s vehicle, pulls out his handgun, hesitates for a moment, and fires five shots through his windshield while both cars are still moving forward. He fires another six shots, using two hands this time, but the suspects continue driving.
Umana then pulls his car beside the suspects’ SUV and fires seven additional shots out of his open driver’s-side window.
The suspects finally pull over and Umana yells “Get down” while reloading a full magazine. As the suspects attempt to drive away once again, Umana fires an additional 13 rounds into the suspects’ SUV as officers descend on the scene.
Both suspects had extensive criminal histories, including armed robbery, kidnapping, grand larceny auto, prohibited possession of a firearm, and assault with a deadly weapon. Nunez is being charged with open murder with a deadly weapon, attempted murder with a deadly weapon, discharging a firearm from a vehicle, carrying a concealed weapon, prohibited possession of a firearm, and disobeying a police officer resulting in death.
Umana is 43 years old and has been with the LVMPD for 17 years. He had been assigned to the Tourist Safety Division in the Downtown Area Command, but is currently on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the shooting investigation.
Great job officer… you are a asset to your department…
Anyone criticizing this officer’s performance has never experienced what adrenaline can do under severe stress, and stress doesn’t get much higher than when being shot at while pursuing armed felons in a high speed chase.
In this case, you could see that adrenaline turn him into superman as he began shooting though his windshield. He did fumble the reload, but quickly corrected it, sought cover, and returned fire. It’s heroes like this who keep the rest of us safe from a judicial system that does not seem to recognize that violence is not cured by being locked up with other predators – once a person exhibits the ability to perpetrate violence against innocent parties, they should be removed from the gene pool ASAP – IMHO.
This does bring up another issue however. My opinion is that all law enforcement should be carrying the .357 SIG, which I believe is, and would have been, far more effective in these types of situations.
Only comment I have is that they need to have some way of talking on their radios without having to use their hand to trigger the mic.
I didn’t read any of the banter in the ornery comments, but my dad was a sheriff for 6 years, and some of the crap he dealt with from citizens and suspects was ridiculous. You have no idea how much self restraint cops have to have. I commend this officer. Under life and death circumstances he didn’t get in a car accident, no bystanders or other officers got killed or injured, and the threat was stopped. In the military they teach you to kill your enemy who is trying to kill you. In law enforcement, you are taught to stop the threat to yourself, other officers, and the public/property. I think this officer gets an A+. Nevermind the fumbling with the mag release. I doubt anyone here who hadn’t been in that situation would have done better. All the range or shoot house training in the world can’t prepare you for that because you’re not being shot at, while driving on crowded streets at high speed, calling out on the radio, and exhanging fire one handed. Come on, let’s give our heroes in blue credit. NO law enforcement officer wants to kill anyone. They use deadly force only when called for. Do think this was one of those instances?
Great job by the officer. Outstanding!
Glad the officer wasn’t hurt and no bystanders injured. Officer stayed remarkably cool under extreme pressure even while fumbling mag change. Looked like his mag pouch not oriented correctly so he grabbed it wrong side up. Surprised to see him shoot through windshield. I would have worried about glass fragments blowing back into my eyes. Fortunately it didn’t. Good example of why we need weak hand practice. His broadside shots might have been more effective from weak hand. By same token shifting hands might have caused a fumble. That is a comment not a criticism. Overall I give the officer an A on it ending well a B+ on his shooting under difficult circumstances (B+ is way above average almost excellent) and AAA+++ for a mile of guts under fire. Glad he got to go home safely and i thank him for his service.
Why were these two cockroaches on the street to begin with?????
First off, Hind sight is always 20/20. All us Cow pasture commandos will always be able to talk about “how wrong XYZ” or “If that had been me I would have done_____”
There is no doubt that there were mistakes made and that this video will probably be used for years to come in numerous training classes about how the situation could have been handled different/better.
As someone who has received combative handgun training, the luxury of breath control, sight picture, and grip control are often the first thing to go and often not till after the smoke has cleared does everyone realize that “Hey i really screwed that up”
Secondly, shooting at the idiots in order to end this scenario sooner rather than later was a decision made on that officers part. Its apparent that the Perps had driven several miles and had shot multiple times putting innocents at danger over a very wide spread path. so the decision to risk his own retaliation to end this problem was probably the best call.
But, you and me werent there.
So to the man and ladies who risk it all everyday, I say thank you
These scumbags have no regard for human life, they were murder suspects, shooting at the police and driving like idiots! The only option was what the officer did, and all you people criticizing his reload under the stress of live fire and keeping his eye on two bad guys, I bet you wouldn’t do any better. I applaud this officer for putting himself in harms way to stop these scumbags and keeping them off the streets.
It is discouraging for me to see that the handgun training received in the academy allowed the officer to grip the gun with a ‘blood on the slide’ or ‘slide bite’ grip. That slide comes back and cuts the left thumb and in a life or death situation it will cause the shooter to stop and readjust the grip due to the pain. I have seen this grip cut the left thumb anywhere from a scratch to needing switches but always the shooter stops and deals with pain. I thought LEOs had to qualify annually. Doesn’t the range officer conducting the training teach the correct grip?
I understand what people are saying about the officer shooting through the windshield and the danger to civilians. At first this was my initial reaction until I watched the video a second time then several more. I fully commend this officer and agree with his decision to fire through the windshield. I didn’t see any people on the sides of the road when he chose to fire. Only one large box truck. He was much closer to the suspect SUV, not to mention the back of that vehicle is a large target. I would be willing to bet that all of his rounds went into the back of the SUV. Yes he did fumble with his mag change, but he was stopping his vehicle, watching one of the perps fleeing, making sure he wasn’t being shot at by the fleeing perp! Not to mention that he was also keeping an eye on the other guy still in the SUV that could shoot him as well! So this officer was dealing with so many different things that were going on at one time! I think the officer did a pretty dang good job just keeping himself alive while stopping these guys. It’s easy for people to pass judgement while simply watching a video. I fully support what this officer did and I commend him for that.
As to the rolling gun battle, at one point in the pursuit, the officer asks for an aerial unit. I assume the officer knew that the suspect vehicle he was pursuing was thought to hold a murder suspect. Backing off, in that case, is not an option IMHO. I think, if an aerial unit had made it to the scene the officers would have been fine backing off and letting their cordon direct the pursuit to a safer area. Baring aerial assistance, they needed to stay in contact with the vehicle and attempt to end the pursuit. My gut says that the police cars that were positioned along the route were there to direct the pursuit (most of the time) in a direction that was desirable for public safety (knowing that shots were being fired from the offending vehicle).
I have not been trained as a LEO. Do not know their rules of engagement. I imagine that shots fired from the fleeing vehicle determined the department’s policy as to the correct actions taken by the officer. Who am i to question the officers actions as I assume he followed the department’s protocol when shots fired at him and others.
Never saw a LEO shoot thru windshield. Training? I know in test that bullets fired through front windshield cause the point of impact to be lower.
He did not have good gun handling skills. I shoot IDPA and we go thru slide lock, insert fresh magazine, close slide to load a bullet over and over. From LEOs participating in IDPA they say they do not get enough of this type of skill training through their department. Yes i know that weekend IDPA shooting is not life and death but you can still build great muscle memory skills. He had to reload an empty gun with fresh magazine right when he was exiting the vehicle and it seemed to me that was the exact time a bad guy would be turning in the car to shoot at him. When he tried to insert fresh magazine in empty gun it was backwards, to me, this skill should of been drilled into LEO during training. Orientate the mag in the mag holder correctly and it will go into mag well.
I am gald they were able to stop these bad guys. Took bravery to do this. My hat off to them.
I just want to add to my previous comment regarding my questioning shooting at the perps moving vehicle. Not too concerned about the officers ability to shoot straight but am concerned about the perps shooting abilities. I noticed that the article states that the perps expended at least 34 rounds. Now how many actually hit the patrol car? My point is that who knows where these bullets the perps are expending are going. To get into a rolling gun battle in traffic just doesn’t sit right with me. Sometimes it might be better to back off and defuse matters a little for safety of the public. Wait for a safer place, public wise, to engage and get more help. An increase in numbers of officers at the scene may change the minds of perps getting involved in a shooting match.
I am VERY Pro LEO, but this rush to use a firearm as shown in that video seems to be more an more typical these days and as more than one LEO here has observed, is ridiculous and dangerous to innocent bystanders!
Wasting ammo is all I saw and STUPID!
Shooting without being able to make effective hits in a situation like that is asinine and dangerous, that is NOT protecting and serving!
Being a retired Texas Highway Patrol Sergeant, I applaud the brave actions taken by the officers involved in this pursuit and use of deadly force taken to end this dangerous situation before any innocent civilians got injured. Las Vegas Police Department has my highest respect and I am very thankful for the men and women who put their lives at risk for a society that cares so little for law enforcement in general. Without law and order, we would live in a horrible place of chaos where the criminals would prey upon the weak and those who cannot defend themselves. Please don’t armchair quarterback the officers or their actions. Unless you’ve worked in law enforcement, it’s easy for you to criticize the actions of the police with all of your what if secenerios. Because of my law enforcement training and career with Texas Highway Patrol, I see this as a lawful use of deadly force. Great job Officer Urmana! I salute your actions.
Had to be loud as hell inside that car. Damn.
Easy to Monday morning QB these things sitting safely at home in front of a keyboard.
Every situation is different.
Glad to hear the cops are OK and they captured or eliminated the threats.
I’m sure the cops will have to write reams of reports and attend dozens of interviews.
Why do no police officers train shooting their weapon with their off hand, since its their job to be armed ????
All you Fuc*ING arm chair quarterbacks – LMAO. Bunch of losers.
A Deadly force confrontation causes negative physiological effects on motor skills as well as auditory and vision. Unless your a special forces commando who trains constantly to be, “stress inoculated” we all succumb to some if not all of those mentioned. Every human being functions differently to survive the outcome. NUFF SAID
Being a retired police officer I have questions regarding the actions of the officers. My concern is with innocent bystanders. Its very hard to hit a moving target for one concern. Another concern is in regards to misses and ricochets. I know I’m going to get a lot of flack for this but I have reservations with engaging someone in this way. Not knowing all the facts of the case maybe this incident had to be handled this way. But maybe shadowing until more support arrived could have been safer. Just food for thought.
Except for the fact that the only reason these dirtbags stopped is because the officer shot up their vehicle. Sitting back and waiting is a horrible idea. Did you not read the story where it said the suspects fired 31 rounds at the officer while they were fleeing? They’re firing rounds out the window at bystanders and driving recklessly through traffic. The stop was exactly what was needed and this officer did the right thing a hundred percent. I just wish you would have killed both of these dirtbags
THAT goes without saying!
DITTO!
DITTO again!
Hard to judge–but I personally was VERY impressed by the shooting while driving technique–I’m giving the officer the benefit of the doubt he had experience with an adequate barrier penetrator bullet in his handgun–though it does seem like the risk goes up for unintended impact of bullets in a moving situation like that. He also demonstrated a willingness to take incoming in the pursuit. I’m impressed. A calculus of risk may have been made that the badguys were going to keep shooting at no particular target anyway (hard to say they actually were shooting just at the officer) and thus stopping them using all means necessary became an imperative. I say thumbs up to the officer based on my rudimentary armchair calls. Magazine swap–out fumble–cost him maybe .5 seconds?
Good job guys!
Officers are trained to improvise, adapt, and overcome, and this officer did just that. I wonder if when he got home his wife nagged him for not taking out the garbage?
Officers put up with a lot of garbage. It’s time we gave them the respect and honor they deserve.
I have no problem with any of the officers actions seen in the video. And I have many issues with many youtube videos with officer shootings I see. He has authority to act the way he did, and rights.
There was a lot of good luck in this exchange. The speeding car did not cause an accident resulting in injuries, neither the bad guys nor the cops shooting injured a cop or an innocent civilian. I was impressed at the reactions of other drivers during the chase, they responded well to the sirens.
In spite of what we see in movies, how frequent are encounters such as this one? Some call for more training, or maybe better procedures for shooting while driving, but if this is a once in a 10 year event, are there not better things to focus training on?
I assume most police in urban areas saw an ad in the news paper for the job. Not all police are former military. Not everyone has experience being shot at. I’m sure his adrenaline was pumping and getting an accurate shot off(while driving or not) becomes increasingly difficult. Good job. But keep training in case it happens again.
Control of adrenaline determines the outcome of situations like this. I recall in submarine damage control training back in the early seventies how reporting the various damage repair situations going on simultaneously became very difficult with accuracy due to the excitement of the drill. I imagine the officer has similar emotions and I applaud his effort though I doubt the accuracy of shooting through a windshield in a moving vehicle.
Ahh. The armchair experts are out. So easy to criticize police from the comfort of a toilet stall.
Copy that, Jaque.
Most of the shots fired through the windshield and while both vehicles were moving were, frankly, a complete “hail Mary” in that the probability of a useful hit is essentially zero, not to mention being a danger to anyone in front of or around the suspect vehicle (even if there appears to be no pedestrians that I can see.) Plus if he had hit the driver, the suspect vehicle becomes an even deadlier weapon to anyone on the road.
Then once both vehicles have stopped and the officer gets out, he empties his mag, fumbles his reload, and fires another fusillade of 13 rounds. The article does not state whether he scored any hits on either of the suspects, although one suspect appears to have fled the vehicle unharmed.
Not impressed. As far as I can see, this appears to be an incident in which both criminals and the cop have seen WAY too many movie and TV car chases.
Actually if you read the whole article in the 5th paragraph just above the video it states that “Miranda was killed in the exchange”, so obviously he scored some hits on at least 1 of the suspects…
Richard, I’d like to see how cool, calm and collected you’d be after being involved in a high speed chase while being shot at. Makes you wonder who would sign up for this dangerous low pay job.
Can the job be Dangerous? Yes, of course it can. Is it a low paying job? It could be in some places, but in Calif, Az and Nev, LEOs in metro areas, get paid very well. especially when you consider that many get in with high school graduation.
There are many patrolmen in Ca that made > $140K last year with O.T. and that is in a city that is losing its officers to other cities because of the “low pay”.
Actually, if YOU read the article, the other officer killed him with his shotgun.
No it doesn’t. Better luck next time.