Man led Las Vegas police on chase as he carjacked bystanders, killed father of 7

Jeanine Santucci, USA TODAY
Updated ·3 min read
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In this photo provided by Karen Lopez, she and her husband, Jerry Lopez, are seen with their seven children in December 2023. Jerry Lopez, 39, was killed in Las Vegas two days after Christmas while on his way to work in what Las Vegas police say was the final carjacking in a crime spree. (Karen Lopez via AP)
In this photo provided by Karen Lopez, she and her husband, Jerry Lopez, are seen with their seven children in December 2023. Jerry Lopez, 39, was killed in Las Vegas two days after Christmas while on his way to work in what Las Vegas police say was the final carjacking in a crime spree. (Karen Lopez via AP)

A man fatally shot his mother, then stole a police cruiser and carjacked multiple bystanders at gunpoint, leading police on a chase that ended with one bystander and the suspect both killed, authorities in Las Vegas said.

Police didn't immediately identify the bystander killed, but Karen Lopez told The Associated Press that her husband and father of their seven young children, 39-year-old Jerry Lopez, was killed. He had just left home for work and was pulling over for the emergency vehicles to go by when the suspect shot him and dragged his body out of the van.

The suspect and his mother were not identified, but police said they would release more information in the coming days. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department declined to provide further details when reached by USA TODAY on Friday.

What happened in the shooting and carjacking?

Police responded to reports of shots fired at about 3:46 a.m. on Wednesday in a suburb just out of Las Vegas, Capt. Joshua Martinez said. There, Las Vegas and state police heard shots fired and took cover, while a police car was struck by gunfire.

The suspect stole an unoccupied police car and fled, leading police on a chase through the suburbs. He then abandoned the police car and carjacked a person in a truck at gunpoint, taking off in the truck.

He later abandoned the truck, and carjacked another person of their SUV. When he pointed a gun at the person in the SUV, a police officer fired at the suspect. The suspect took off in the SUV.

With police on the chase, the suspect then abandoned the SUV and pointed his gun at the driver of a van. Officers heard a shot, according to the news release. Martinez said officers saw the suspect removing an injured person from the van, who was later pronounced dead.

The suspect took off in the van and officers fired shots while he fled. The van came to a stop shortly after, and SWAT officers approached, discovering the suspect was dead. It wasn't clear if the suspect was killed by police gunfire.

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Bystander killed was a loving father, husband

Jerry Lopez was the father of seven children, including six of whom were adopted after being fostered, his wife said.

Jerry and Karen Lopez were married for 13 years and fostered a total of 12 children since 2017. Karen Lopez said she and the children are trying to make sense of the tragedy. She said their 11-year-old keeps texting his father's phone to tell him how much he loves him.

"He was such an amazing father to our kids," Karen Lopez told the AP. "He would just walk through the door after work, throw his stuff down and just jump right in it with the kids, not even taking two minutes to himself."

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Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Man shot his mother before deadly carjackings in Las Vegas