Truong Thai and his partner Ryan Gilliham received a call from a woman who was being beaten by her husband, when they went to the report Thai spoke with the husband, once the agent turned his back on him, Tyson Hampton opened fire on him, wounding him fatally
A veteran Las Vegas police officer was walking away from a suspect’s vehicle when the suspect fired 18 rounds at him from an AK-47, assistant Andrew Walsh with the Metropolitan Police Department said Monday.
One of the rounds hit officer Truong Thai in the side through his bulletproof vest, Walsh said.
“Even after being mortally wounded, the Thai officer was able to return fire while he was lying on the ground,” Walsh said.
At some point Thai managed to respond with five rounds using his .45-caliber Glock 21 pistol.
The officer was pronounced dead at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center from the wound he received to his torso, according to the Clark County Coroner’s Office.
“This is a huge blow to our entire police department,” Walsh said. “He was one of those officers who had a lot of time. He could practically work any shift he wanted. A guy who has been around for 23 years knows guys like me and he also knows young people from the police department. He is one of those guys who touches everyone.”
Thai, 49, reportedly responded to a report around 1 a.m. Thursday near South University Center Driver and East Flamingo Road, Walsh said Monday.
Thai and Officer Ryan Gilliham, 32, responded to the scene after a woman called to report that her husband was beating her.
Body camera footage released showed Gillihan chatting with the woman while Thai walked toward her husband’s vehicle.
The husband, identified as Tyson Hampton, 24, refused to answer the Thai officer’s questions and was seen on camera footage approaching him in the passenger seat.
As Thai walked away from the vehicle, Hampton shot him with the rifle, Walsh said.
Gilliam was seen on video walking away from the gunfire and behind a fence before firing seven rounds from his Glock 17 9mm pistol.
Per standard procedure, Gilliham was placed on paid leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
The shooter was arrested near the CVS parking lot at 2424 East Desert Inn Road. Hampton was intercepted by a K-9 Diko and taken into custody, authorities said.
Hampton faces one count of manslaughter with a deadly weapon, four counts of attempted murder, and one count of assault with a deadly weapon and domestic battery.