Native Sun News Today: Oglala veteran shot and killed by police


Rex Vance Wilson was a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe and a U.S. Marine Corps veteran.

Oglala Lakota man shot by Las Vegas police
Questions abound about his mental state
By James Giago Davies
Native Sun News Today Correspondent
nativesunnews.today

LAS VEGAS, Nev. –– A high speed chase by Las Vegas, Nevada, Metro police ended in the shooting death of 50-year-old Rex Vance Wilson, formerly of Rapid City and an enrolled member of the Oglala Lakota Tribe.

Official police statements name four officers: John Saveo, Christopher Gowens, Travis Schwartz and Erik Lindberg as involved in the shooting. Wilson was shot and killed on the 215 Beltway near North Hualapai Way, surrounded by what some witnesses claim were 39 police cars.

Las Vegas police claim the officers tried to make an arrest before the chase ensued.

Wilson had been a successful sales representative for several local corporations, but the family believes Wilson had a mental breakdown, and according to a statement released by them, that “he became very sullen and despondent, quit attending AA meetings, and his family became very concerned when he turned up missing.”

His wife Petra eventually saw a video of a person suspected of robbing a local business, who was shot and killed by police, on October 12, 2016. She informed police that the man in the video appeared to be her husband, Rex Wilson.

Petra Wilson claims she was denied access to her husband’s body by the Clark County Coroner’s Office, while an autopsy was performed, and she later identified his body through photographs.

Petra Wilson also asserts that based on preliminary reports, there is no indication that her husband was holding a gun, or pointing it at the officers, when they approached, no indication their lives were at risk.


Read the rest of the story on the Native Sun News Today website: Oglala Lakota man shot by Las Vegas police

(Contact James Giago Davies at skindiesel@msn.com)

Copyright permission Native Sun News

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