By: Las Vegas Now Staff
A more complete picture has taken shape about the events that led up to a woman being shot by police, in front of her children. One by one, eyewitnesses took the stand. Some had similar accounts; several said they did not see Deshira Salimaj lunge at officers as police testified.
So many people were eyewitnesses to this deadly shooting, the inquest just ended minutes ago, and it is not done.
From the beginning, this has been a case of conflicting stories and contradicting testimony. The jury now has three choices, whether this shooting was justified, excusable or criminal.
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After two full days of testimony about what transpired before Salimaj was shot by Henderson Police, the jury in the coroner's inquest finally got to hear from the officer who pulled the trigger.
“A million thoughts running through my mind at that point in time,” said Officer Luke Morrison.
Morrison, a two-year veteran of the Henderson police force, testified he arrived to the scene to find police whisking away Deshira's Selimaj's two children to safety.
“The knife was going back and forth in between her hand,” he said.
Officers say she threatened police, herself, and her own children, and refused to listen to them.
“Ma'am, put the knife down. Ma'am, you don't need to do this, just put the knife down, we'll work this out with you,” he said.
Police say she was an immediate threat and they took action with a Taser.
“I believe at that point, she was going to try to kill me with that knife,” said Officer Anthony Pecorella.
“Seemed like she got really intense and she immediately stood up on her feet,” said Morrison.
They say the taser wasn't enough.
“She stood up, she raised the knife with her right hand and she advanced toward Officer Pecorella. I'm not sure of how many steps she took. I just remember seeing her lunging towards him and at that point, I fired my weapon at her,” said Officer Morrison. “I saw Officer Pecorella in a bad situation. His back was to the ice cream truck. He was pretty much ambushed at that point.”
“I think he saved my life,” said Officer Pecorella.
Eyewitnesses saw the situation play out in several different ways.
“Her hands were in a forward position, but not in a lunging position at all,” said witness Maria Saltonstall.
“From my point of view, she didn't look like a threat,” said Sean Trejo.
“She was threatening to kill the children and waving the knife around,” said Benjamin Perez.
This inquest has been an emotional one for family members, who wait to hear the jury's final word.
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