Man told 911 dispatcher that he was ‘ready to die’ before Las Vegas officers shot, killed him

A man shot and killed by Las Vegas police threatened a woman and told the 911 dispatcher that he was “ready to die” when officers arrived, Metro police said Tuesday.

On June 8 around 11:10 p.m., Metro dispatch received a report of a domestic disturbance in the 5000 block of East Craig Road near Nellis Boulevard. Police said that the suspect, identified as Maurice Smith, 43, called 911 and said that when police got there he was ready to die. In the background of the call, the dispatcher could hear a woman yelling that she had been hit with a wrench and that Smith was armed with a knife.

When officers arrived, they found Smith inside of an apartment with the door open. He was holding the woman in a chokehold with one arm and had what appeared to be a knife in the other hand. The woman managed to break away from Smith and an officer deployed his low lethal shotgun, firing four rounds. None of the rounds hit Smith, police said.

Smith then came out of the apartment while still holding the victim and after several minutes of officers trying to get Smith to put the weapon down, Smith told officers that he was going to take the woman inside and kill her, according to police.

Officers then rushed to the apartment, broke a window, and saw Smith still armed on the ground next to the victim.

As Smith attempted to stab the victim in the neck with a two-prong serving fork, Officers Alfredo Chavez, 23, and Cruz Littlefield, 24, shot at Smith, hitting him several times, police said.

Both officers Chavez and Littlefield were placed on paid administrative leave while the shooting was reviewed, as is routine for an officer-involved shooting.

The victim was rescued and taken to a local hospital, where she is recovering.

Smith was also taken to a local hospital where he was later pronounced dead. If Smith survived he would have faced charges of attempted murder, battery with a deadly weapon, and kidnapping, according to police.