LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Video shared by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department on Friday offers new insight into the circumstances that led an officer to fatally shoot a man outside a local Walmart store.
Asst. Sheriff Bryan Peterson outlined the ongoing investigation in a media briefing on Friday afternoon that included body camera footage and surveillance video from inside the store.
You can watch the full briefing here:
We have learned more about the shooting since our initial reporting, including details from an arrest report for one of the surviving people involved in the altercation that led up to it.
In an initial briefing on the incident, Capt. Brandon Oris told reporters that the shooting stemmed from reports of a fight inside the Walmart store in the 5100 block of Boulder Highway, near Nellis Boulevard, at approximately 6 a.m. Tuesday.
Oris said an officer responding to the 911 call encountered an armed man outside the store and fatally shot him. He has since been identified as 35-year-old Travis Ward.
Investigators identified Ward as the gunman who shot and critically injured a man inside the store after the man was allegedly involved in an altercation with Ward's girlfriend, named in the arrest report as Raqiya Smith.
Smith and another woman, Ameea Blue, allegedly fought with a man and woman outside the Walmart before Smith summoned Ward to the store.
During Friday's briefing, Peterson played Walmart security footage that shows Ward going into the store, pulling out a handgun, and shooting the other man. He then ran out of the store just as Officer Cristobal Magana arrived.
On body camera footage shared by police, you can hear a gunshot ring out inside the store as Magana pulls up in his patrol car:
"As the officer got out of his car, Ward ran out of the business armed with a gun," Peterson said. "The officer gave verbal commands for Ward to drop the gun, but he refused to comply, causing the officer to discharge his firearm, striking him."
Magana has been with LVMPD since 2024 and is assigned to the Southeast Area Command. The investigation revealed he fired six shots from a 9mm handgun during the encounter, Peterson said. After the shooting, he was placed on paid administrative leave.
Police say Ward was administered first aid at the scene, but he died from his injuries.
Had he survived, Peterson said Ward would have faced charges including attempted murder, discharging a firearm where a person might be in danger, possession of a firearm as a prohibited person, carrying a concealed weapon without a permit, and burglary.
Smith and Blue were booked into the Clark County Detention Center for battery with a deadly weapon, disregard for the safety of persons or property, and conspiracy to commit battery. Smith faces additional charges of battery and theft in an amount less than $650. Smith and Blue declined Channel 13's request for a jailhouse interview.
The other two people involved in this incident have not been publicly identified.
East Las Vegas reporter Adriana Gonzalez-Chavez shares the reaction from local shoppers on Tuesday:
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