Man accused of killing Las Vegas police officer deemed incompetent to stand trial

David Charns
·2 min read

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A judge ruled the man accused of shooting and killing a Las Vegas police officer incompetent to stand trial during a hearing Wednesday.

Officer Truong Thai, a 23-year Metro police veteran, was responding to a domestic disturbance involving Tyson Hampton, 25, on Oct. 13, 2022, when Hampton allegedly shot him near Flamingo Road and University Center Drive, police said.

As the 8 News Now Investigators reported earlier this month, Hampton was refusing to leave his jail cell and had not showered in months, leading to a delay in his trial.

Clark County District Court Judge Tierra Jones first delayed Hampson’s trial last spring. She had yet to schedule a new date as of Wednesday’s hearing, which happened in a different courtroom.

During the hearing Wednesday, Judge Christy Craig ordered Hampton to go to a state hospital “for further treatment and restoration to competency,” documents said.

In their request for a new trial date, Hampton’s attorneys said he “has been increasingly exhibiting paranoid and [bizarre] behavior” and was refusing jail visits.

As the 8 News Now Investigators first reported after the 2022 shooting, Hampton’s mother-in-law warned dispatchers about her son-in-law minutes before he allegedly shot and killed Thai in a barrage of gunfire.

Hampton fired a total of 18 rounds during the shooting, police said. Hampton’s mother-in-law was shot in the leg. A man sitting in a car near the shooting scene was almost hit by a bullet, the report said. A bullet went through his windshield, almost hitting him.

As the 8 News Now Investigators reported, Hampton faced a gun-related charge two years before Thai’s death and was known to pull out his gun during confrontations, court documents and police records said.

Prosecutors said they intend to seek the death penalty should a jury convict Hampton.

Murder trials are often delayed in Clark County, sometimes by years.

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