Casino robbery suspect fatally shot by cop in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS -- A casino robbery suspect was fatally shot by an officer Sunday inside a Las Vegas resort after police said he failed to comply with their commands.

Police Capt. Matt McCarthy said the man sought in a string of local casino robberies had been under surveillance by undercover officers for a few days when he was shot at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino.

Detectives learned the suspect was staying at the Rio and tried to arrest him after confronting him about 5 a.m. McCarthy, in a video statement, said police first used a Taser but an officer shot him near the casino's guest elevators when the suspect reached for his waist.

A gun was found on the man, who died at the scene.

No one else was injured.

The suspect's name was not released.

McCarthy only described the suspect as a white male adult who produced a handgun in the course of the recent casino robberies and claimed in some of them that he had explosive devices on him. No further details about the robberies were immediately disclosed.

"Because of the potential of explosives we had the Las Vegas bomb squad as well as the (police) armor team show up," McCarthy said, according to KSNV-TV. "They're the ones who conducted the cursory search of the subject to make sure he did not have explosives on him and he did not."

The Rio's operations were not disrupted except for the temporary closures of its front entrance and the guest elevators.

The officers involved were placed on routine administrative leave. Their names also were not immediately released.