Brandon Durham Las Vegas man shot dead by Officer Alexander Bookman responding to a home invasion call as police now investigate if the cop went over the top when he fired at the home owner and a second party, Alejandra Boudreaux.
A Las Vegas man fearing for his life when a woman he knew broke into his home armed with a knife called 911 for help. By the end of the evening, the caller would be shot dead, allegedly at the hands of cops.
Brandon Durham, 43-year-old father and realtor in Las Vegas, Nevada, during the early morning hours of November 12th, called 911 to report an intruder in his home.
At the time of the call, Durham said that two people were shooting outside of his home and were trying to break in. His was one of multiple 911 calls reporting a shooting in the city’s Sunset Park neighborhood that early morning.
‘Hey, drop the knife,’
Durham reported that he was inside the house with his 15-year-old daughter and he was going to lock himself in a bathroom, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Assistant Sheriff Dori Koren said last week.
Koren said three officers responded to the home at 12:40 a.m. and ‘immediately’ saw damage to multiple vehicles and the windows of the home.
Released body cam video footage showed officers kicking down the home’s door upon arriving at the home, as screaming is heard inside the home.
Officer Alexander Bookman rushes in with his firearm drawn and walks through a narrow hallway, where screaming and banging are heard.
Two people can be seen struggling in a doorway, one in a red sweatshirt with a hood over their head, and the other a man apparently in his underwear with his arms around the person in the sweatshirt.
The man without clothing was later identified as Durham and the person in the sweatshirt as Alejandra Boudreaux, a suspect in the case, CBS News reported.
‘Hey, drop the knife,’ the officer said. ‘Drop the knife.’
One gunshot to the head & 5 more rapid gunshots
Approximately two seconds after issuing the command, the officer fired the gun and Durham appeared to be hit, according to the video. Both Durham and Boudreaux fell to the ground, and the officer advanced forward and fired his gun five more times, according to the video.
Officers attempted to provide Durham with medical treatment, but he was pronounced dead at the scene, NBC News reported.
Arrested was Boudreaux, on the following charges:
- 1 count of Performance of Act in Willful or Wanton Disregard of Safety of Persons Resulting in Death
- 1 count of Home Invasion with a Deadly Weapon
- 1 count of Assault with a Deadly Weapon Domestic Violence
- 1 count of Child Abuse, Neglect, or Endangerment
Following her arrest, Boudreaux was booked into the Clark County Detention Center.
Family are now also demanding that the responding police officer who shot dead Durham will also be arrested on criminal charges.
‘The entire time he’s [Durham] unarmed, and he never represents a threat to the officer and certainly was not a threat to the person who was intruding into his home,’ said Lee Merritt, a civil rights attorney for the estate of Brandon Durham told KTNV.
‘He called the police for safety and instead, he was brutally murdered,’ his daughter Isabella said in a news conference.
‘Someone needs to explain to me why my son is not here with us today,’ added Durham’s mother.
According to the arrest report, Boudreaux disclosed to detectives that she and Durham had an ongoing casual sexual relationship.
When the two decided to end things, she was allegedly scheduled to head back home on a flight, but instead ended up at Durham’s home where she stated she ‘wanted him to live with the wreckage that I caused in his house.’
Boudreaux told investigators that she had been feeling suicidal for several days and expressed a desire to be shot by police, but in a tragic turn, Durham was the one who lost his life.
An investigation has yet to decide whether Officer Bookman had acted appropriately or should now face criminal charges. The investigation into the shooting is still in the early stages, and could take 30 to 90 days, Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson told Durham’s family according to KLAS.
‘Every time a police officer used force, he has to be able to articulate why he used that force,’ Felipe Rodriguez, an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a former detective sergeant for the NYPD, told CBS News. ‘And even if he did use one round, you know, how is it that he was, you know, he continued shooting after the person was down in such a rapid succession? It’s going to have a lot of explaining.’
Officer Bookman is on routine paid administrative leave.
Boudreaux is scheduled to appear for a hearing on November 25.
