Police: Naked gunman interrupts students taking pre-SATs

Monday, August 7, 2017

LAS VEGAS -- A high school student said he couldn't believe what he was seeing: a naked man, allegedly armed with a gun, in a bizarre situation with police in Las Vegas.

"The guard told us 'don't go out there. There's a man outside. He's naked with a gun," Chris Merhi told KSNV-TV.

Mehri was taking a pre-SAT test with nine other students at Life Springs Christian Church when police swarmed the area.

Around 11 a.m., the naked man pushed himself against a window in full view of the students. Mehri snapped a picture.

"I was about five feet from him," Mehri said. "I could see him right through the glass door."

Police said the suspect was threatening to kill himself. Officers cut the light, and ordered the students to the back of the room.

"About 20 minutes later, a METRO police officer walked in and told us that they had engaged with him and shot him in the arm, and that he was rushed to the hospital and the scene was taken care of," Merhi said.

No officers were hurt, but the suspect's condition is not known. Investigators said he was speaking on his way to the hospital.

Police aren't saying why the naked man did all of this at the church.

This is the 16th police shooting in Las Vegas so far this year, a sharp increase from the 10 total police shootings in 2016. The shooting Saturday also marks the eighth instance where officers were shot or shot at in the past seven weeks.

On Tuesday, a man in a stolen truck died in a shootout with police, which also left an officer injured.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.