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Sep. 24, 2008
Deputy recovering after gunfight
GINA B. GOOD
Campers at Terrible's Lakeside RV park were jarred from sleep Friday in the dark of the night by loud noises and a woman's screams for help. The muffled sounds turned out to be gunfire, coming from inside the Gulf Stream motor coach belonging to Patrick Joseph Lamoureux, 46, a long-term resident parked in the northwest part of the park in space number 58. The Nye County Sheriff's Office (NCSO) received an emergency 911 call placed from the park at 2:26 a.m. Multiple gunshots were heard by Dep. Ian Deutch, Sgt. Dan Thomassian and Det. Dave Boruchowitz, who were first to arrive at the upscale park. Later, campers parked in nearby spaces said they saw muzzle flashes and a man moving across the grassy knolls in the dark, shooting from various locations of cover. When K-9 Dep. Eric Murphy arrived, he was directed to the northeast side of the RV park to begin searching on foot, leading to the location of the other deputies on the scene. "The suspect was lying in wait in the shrubbery," said Sheriff Tony DeMeo. "Deputy Murphy was ambushed and shot in the back from about eight to 10 feet away." Murphy was hit three times in the upper body. Although the deputy was wearing a protective vest, the bullets passed through the flexible side of his vest, where it is most vulnerable. "The suspect waited until the officer passed him in the dark," said the sheriff. At the direction of Thomassian, Dep. Kaycee Otteson pulled the injured Murphy out of the firefight to a safe location, where he received medical assistance from Pahrump Valley Fire-Rescue Service paramedics. The sheriff said the suspect was shooting from a "hill advantage" and had taken a position behind several large boulders. His legs, however, were not behind cover. Officers returned fire, aiming for and striking Lamoureux in the legs, causing the suspect to surrender. Lamoureaux was treated for his injuries at the scene by paramedics and taken to the Pahrump jail. According to an NCSO press release issued Monday, investigation revealed that Lamoureux's acts were rooted in a domestic dispute. His wife left the trailer just prior to the time the suspected started shooting. The sheriff said Lamoureux "engaged in an aggressive firefight." At first count, at least 50 shell casings from the suspect's .45-caliber automatic pistol and .357-caliber revolver with a speed loader were recovered. Thirty-two of the casings were found in Lamoureux's travel trailer. Murphy was airlifted to University Medical Trauma Center in Las Vegas. He was released to the care of his family the next day and is recovering at home. Murphy expressed his gratitude, as did DeMeo, to Metro Police in Las Vegas for treating him "like family." Lamoureux appeared before Judge Gus Sullivan in Pahrump Justice Court Monday and bail for the suspect was raised from $1,064,000 to $2.5 million. Lamoureux, who lives full time in his motor coach and is a veteran of two tours of duty in Iraq, is considered a flight risk as well as being dangerous to himself and others. The suspect has been charged with at least 10 counts that, if served consecutively, would add up to a maximum of 210 years behind bars, according to District Attorney Bob Beckett. "Officer safety is the No. 1 priority of our office," said Beckett. "Our office will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law. There are consequences for violence against police officers." The case filed against Lamoureux includes four category A felony charges of attempted murder of a peace officer, naming Murphy, Thomassian, Deutch and Boruchowitz as victims. There is a category B felony for battery upon an officer with the use of a deadly weapon, naming Murphy, and five counts of discharging firearms at or into structures, listing the motorhomes parked at various locations within Terrible's RV park. The total amount of property damage to surrounding travel trailers is not yet known, but at least one had its back window shot out. |
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