A Henderson Police Department SWAT officer fatally shot a 71-year-old man 14 seconds after officers breached his Las Vegas home to execute a search warrant in 2025, a detective said Thursday.
Bruce Ayer died on June 26, 2025, after Henderson SWAT officer Michael Stevens shot him twice at his home in the 3800 block of Casa Colorado Avenue in Las Vegas, Detective Nickolas Papacs said during a fact-finding review of the shooting at the Clark County Government Center on Thursday. Papacs was the lone Henderson police representative to speak.
Fact-finding reviews are held after police-involved deaths when the district attorney’s office “preliminarily determines that no criminal prosecution of the officer or officers involved is appropriate,” according to the Clark County website.
Police previously said that Stevens shot Ayer after officers entered Ayer’s home, near the intersection of Flamingo Road and Mountain Vista Street, to execute a search warrant in connection with a burglary that happened the day before at a house in the 1200 block of Imperia Drive in Henderson. Stevens’ body-camera footage was released weeks after the shooting and showed Ayer pointing an object that police said looked like a handgun, but was later determined to be a handgun-shaped lighter.
The SWAT team arrived at Ayer’s home at 7 a.m. and was given an order to breach the front door seconds after arriving, according to Papacs and a timeline constructed using dispatch logs and body-camera footage shown during the fact-finding review.
Fourteen seconds after SWAT officers breached the front door, Stevens shot Ayer twice. Papacs said SWAT officers began rendering aid to Ayer at 7:04 a.m. and that paramedics began the process of transporting Ayer to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center at 7:07 a.m.
SWAT was requested to execute the warrant at the Casa Colorado house because the presence of security cameras, known criminals and “fortifications” including a gated approach, barred windows and a heavy-duty security door all posed safety risks to officers, Papacs said.
“Sometimes the element of surprise is going to be the safest option because it provides less of an opportunity for the occupants inside to arm themselves,” Papacs said in response to questioning by attorney Michael Troiano, the ombudsman appointed to represent the public and Ayer’s family at the review. “That element of surprise is critical to the investigation to preserve the evidence to make sure that it’s not destroyed.”
Burglary probe
Papacs said Ayer was one of several people living in the home, which he described as a “flop house,” or a place people go to take drugs. Witnesses told police that Ayer was suffering from throat cancer and dealt with frequent pain.
Papacs said multiple people, including Anthony Martinez, a suspect in the Imperia Drive burglary, were arrested after leaving Ayer’s home in the hours before the SWAT raid.
The warrant was still executed because police believed additional stolen property from the Imperia Drive burglary was inside Ayer’s home, Papacs said.
Papacs defended the decision to enter the house quickly. He said he was unsure whether SWAT provided additional notice to the occupants that officers were outside, other than an automated audio message played from a SWAT vehicle upon arrival.
“As far as trying to notify occupants in a situation like that would probably be counterproductive, as well as unsafe for everyone involved,” Papacs said.
Papacs said burglars stole a 2021 Volkswagen Jetta from the Imperia Drive home, along with jewelry, a designer handbag, credit cards and identification cards.
Detective: Ayer would have faced charges
Ayer died from multiple gunshot wounds and his death was ruled a homicide, according to the Clark County coroner’s office. Papacs said a toxicology report revealed Ayer had methadone, lorazepam and methamphetamine in his system at the time of his death.
Stevens, who was 39 at the time, fired two rounds from a Colt M4 rifle, Papacs said.
Online records show Martinez has been charged with residential burglary, grand larceny and grand larceny of an automobile and remains in custody at the Clark County Detention Center. Martinez has a jury trial scheduled to begin Oct. 19, according to District Court records.
Ayer was holding was a handgun-shaped butane lighter that was painted black to look realistic, Papacs said. Had Ayer survived, Papacs added, he would have faced charges of assault on a protected person with a deadly weapon and resisting a public officer with a deadly weapon, not a firearm.
Contact Casey Harrison at charrison@reviewjournal.com. Follow @Casey_Harrison1 on X.
