A Nevada father who called 911 for help during a home invasion was later shot and ๐๐พ๐๐ed by the cops who responded to his house.
Brandon Durham, 43, called the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department at around 12.40am on Tuesday to report that two people were shooting outside of his home and were trying to break-into his home, police have said.
He told the operator he was going to lock himself in the bathroom, and noted that he was inside the home with his 15-year-old daughter.
When cops then arrived on the scene in Henderson, officers could be seen kicking open Durham’s front door and walking inside in body camera footage released on Thursday.
One police officer, who has been identified as Alexander Bookman, 26, could then be seen rushing in with his firearm drawn as he makes his way down a narrow hallway, from where screaming and banging sounds are emanating.
He eventually comes in contact with a man in his underwear who is holding another individual in a red hooded sweatshirt and black jacket up against a doorframe, as the two struggled with a knife.
‘Hey, drop the knife,’ Bookman could be heard yelling. ‘Drop the knife.’
Just about two seconds later, he fired his weapon – shooting Durham in his head, according to the Las Vegas Sun.
Both Durham and the person in the red sweatshirt, who has since been identified as the home invader – Alejandra Boudreaux, 31 – immediately fell to the ground.
Still, the body camera footage shows, Bookman advanced forward and fired his gun five more times – even as Durham stopped moving.
Police have since said there were only about three seconds from the time Bookman fired his first shot to his last, NBC News reports.
But officers soon learned that Durham was the homeowner, and he was calling to report that Boudreaux had broken into his house.
At that point, cops tried to provide Durham with medical treatment, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Meanwhile, officers took Boudreaux into custody and charged her with home invasion with a deadly weapon; assault with a deadly weapon; domestic violence; willful or wanton disregard of safety of persons resulting in death; and ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ abuse, neglect or endangerment.
A criminal complaint obtained by KSNV suggests Boudreaux broke into Durham’s home with a weapon with the intention of provoking police to ๐๐พ๐๐ her in what is sometimes referred to as ‘suicide by cop.’
She was apparently caught on surveillance footage outside the home for about 10 minutes before the alleged home invasion.
That footage also captured the sound of glass breaking several times, and the criminal complaint accused Boudreaux of attempting to stab and/or threaten Durham with a knife.
Durham’s family has also said they do not believe he was the one holding the knife, and was instead trying to fend off Boudreaux when he was shot.
The Las Vegasย Metropolitan Police Department is now conducting an internal investigation into the shooting, and the Clark County District Attorney’s Office will ultimately determine whether criminal charges will be filed against Officer Bookman.
For now, Bookman, who has been with the department since 2021, is on paid administrative leave.
‘The loss of life in any type of incident like this is always tragic, and it’s something we take very seriously,’ Assistant Sheriff Dori Koren said at a news conference Tuesday.
‘Our officers, unfortunately, have a very challenging job that during these types of incidents, they don’t have the ability to stop time and stop a video and get a still and then spend minutes, let alone hours or days or months, analyzing that information to make their decision.’
But Durham’s friends and family argue that Bookman did not even give him a chance to explain what was happening before he fired his weapon.
‘The officer was not threatened. He just didn’t take the time to de-escalate the situation, which he should have, and my friend would be here,’ Branden Cinquegrani told KTNV.
‘His 15-year-old daughter just lost her father, pretty much in front of her. And you know it’s hard, it’s very disheartening.’
Durham’s daughter, Isabella, also said at a news conference that her father ‘was the absolute victim, no matter what could have happened.
‘The violence that occurred here was under someone who was extremely, extremely angry and extremely violent,’ she claimed, adding that the police officer’s actions have made it so that she will ‘live fatherless for the rest of my life.’
Rachael Gore, Durham’s domestic partner who sometimes refers to herself as his wife, also said he did not deserve what had happened.
‘You call somebody for help. You don’t get help, you get ๐๐พ๐๐ed,’ she said. ‘Never in a million years did I think that would happen to him. He was a good man.
‘The one who calls police and says “help me” should never be the one shot,’ she said, before claiming that the funeral home told her she could not view Durham’s body because it was too disfigured, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
‘We don’t get to say goodbye,’ she lamented.
Friends have described Durham, a real estate agent and home warranty salesman, as ‘a beautiful soul’ who was a little ‘goofy.’
‘He lit up a room. He had a huge personality. Everybody who met him loved him,’ Cinquegrani said.
Steve Cowan, another friend, said he was ‘goofy.’
‘”Goofy” would be the word I use, loud and goofy – he danced his dance. That’s his thing,’ Cowan said.
Both friends also said Durham was a major sports fan.
They are now focusing their efforts on helping Isabella, as well as Gore and her son, in the aftermath of Durham’s death – setting up an online fundraiser for them.
‘His daughter doesn’t have her sole provider anymore,’ Cinquegrani said.
‘And she’s probably not going to be able to live where she grew up,’ he said, as Isabella told how she ‘heard the gunshots.’
The GoFundMe had raised over $9,800 as of Sunday night.