Police fatally shoot 911 caller, the victim of a home invasion. LVMPD sheriff silent.

Youth leader calls for Metro to use de-escalation over use-of-force and urges community not to call police for help to minimize violence.

When Brandon Durham, 43, called 911 because an intruder entered his home armed with a knife, it led to his shooting death at the hands of police on Nov. 12. Durham was unclothed while standing in the doorway of his bedroom, restraining a hooded assailant, when an LVMPD officer unloaded his weapon on him several times.

At a press conference Monday, Lee Merritt, a prominent civil rights lawyer from Texas representing Durham’s family, said the officer was Alexander Bookman, who, according to Channel 8, forced the intruder to leave the property 24 hours before the killing. Durham’s family requested that the officer be arrested, while Bookman’s lawyer believes his client did not commit a crime.

LVMPD identified the person who invaded Durham’s home and attacked him as Alejandra Boudreaux, 31. Boudreaux is an alleged lover of Durham who reportedly planned a suicide by police in an act of revenge.

Despite LVMPD’s deadly encounter with a 911 caller, which made national headlines, LVMPD Sheriff Kevin McMahill has remained silent as the police department’s critical incident review team investigates the situation. 

“The subdivision over there for the police,” said Desiree Smith, founder of the local police watchdog organization More Than A Hashtag, “they killed Percy [Hawkins] and Brandon, literally within five miles of each other.”

Police gunned down Hawkins near the Harry Reid International Airport after they were called to a local casino to address concerns about him from staff. After he allegedly charged at officers with a knife, he was shot to death. That was around the corner from Durham's home.

LVMPD did not immediately respond to multiple requests for comment.

Nevada law authorizes police to use deadly force to make an arrest “if there is probable cause to believe that the person committed a felony which involves the infliction or threat of serious bodily harm or the use of deadly force, or poses an imminent threat of serious bodily harm or death to the peace officer or to others.”

“This [police killing] is pretty clear cut,” Smith said about Durham’s death. “This shit was really wrong, whereas, like some other cases, the police can say, Oh, this was justified.”

Durham moved to Las Vegas, worked in real estate, and recently launched an innovative home warranty program to address gaps in the industry.

Smith said Durham’s slaying is part of a string of unjustified deadly police encounters and invoked names such as Tashii Brown, who was killed by Metro in 2017, which resulted in a $2.2 million settlement, Keith Childress, an Arizona fugitive killed by Metro in 2015 after officers received erroneous information from US Marshals who mistakenly said he was armed and wanted for attempted murder. That resulted in a $50,000 settlement. 

Smith also said the names of Jorge Gomez who was shot to death by four Metro officers during a Black Lives Matter protest in 2020; Isaiah Williams, a youth wrongfully killed by police during a home raid and Christopher Smith, a man killed by law enforcement in October 2022 for allegedly brandishing a gun while wearing a Halloween mask outside. According to Channel 8, an autopsy report found Smith had alcohol and THC in his system.

Desiree Smith said her organization is focused on promoting alternatives to 911, such as building community codes, learning first aid and receiving weapons safety training. She also urged officers to prioritize de-escalation over the use of force.

“We're indoctrinated to believe that police are here to protect and serve,” she said. “But it seems like, really, they're just trying to make sure they make it home.”

Nevada has lost 14 people to police killings so far this year — 11 were in Clark County, according to Mapping Police Violence, an organization that live tracks people killed by police since 2013. The group found that Black Nevadans are twice as likely to be killed by the police than white residents, and the group represents the highest number of people unalived by law enforcement in the state between 2013 and 2024, making up 140 deaths by cops.

In the neighboring state of Arizona, Black people are 3.3 times more likely to be killed by police than white people and made up 200 deaths by cops between 2013 and 2024.

Setting a community standard

Local historian and racial justice advocate Minister Stretch Sanders responded to the tragedy endured by the Durham family by organizing a rally and march for justice outside Las Vegas City Hall this Saturday afternoon. For more information about the event, click here.

Sanders, founder and president of the Stretch For Change Foundation, said expressing outrage towards police killings is the right thing to do. He’s been organizing rallies, marches, and protests for 10 years in Southern Nevada and amassed a crowd of thousands of people during the pandemic at the We Deserve Live rally following the murders of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery.

“It's the way that we set a personal standard in our own community,” he said.

A photo of an email Sanders received in response to the upcoming rally.

Sanders is planning multiple public demonstrations to draw attention to Durham’s killing locally, which he said wounded the community at large. He said organizing after a police shooting is about anti-injustice and not about anti-police, stating that the matter is about “right versus wrong.”

“Our hopes are … to garner local support and also help organize some real legislation in place for Nevadans,” he said. “We have a legislative session, and I'm hoping and I'm praying that we can possibly come up with ideas and solutions that can make us feel safe locally because right now, we do not.”