Las Vegas Cops Release Details on Officer-Involved Shooting at Gold Coast Casino

Posted on: May 31, 2023, 03:55h. 

Last updated on: June 1, 2023, 01:09h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More
Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

An armed suspect fired rounds at two Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) officers before they returned fire multiple times and wounded him at Gold Coast casino, police revealed on Tuesday.

Gold Coast
The Gold Coast Hotel and Casino, pictured above. Two LVMPD officers shot a suspect there who had fired his gun at them. (Image: Trip.com)

The shooting took place last Thursday at a parking garage at the gaming property located west of the Las Vegas Strip. The suspect, Matthew Glunt, 48, was wanted in connection with a string of recent commercial robberies, police said.

Two officers, assigned to a stakeout, approached Glunt after they saw him walking toward a car parked in the Gold Coast’s parking garage. Initially, the officers tried to stun Glunt with a taser, but it didn’t work, the Review-Journal said. They had also ordered Glunt to surrender. He ignored the commands.

Glunt reportedly displayed a 9 mm handgun during the encounter and fired at the officers, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. The officers both returned fire. Detective Christopher Gowens, 45, fired 15 rounds, according to the LVMPD, while officer Joshua Leach, 33, fired six rounds of his own.

Police body camera footage was released on Tuesday. It showed the confrontation and gunfire. Glunt fired five rounds at the officers, police said.

Suspect’s Mother Worried

The suspect’s mother, Cecile Glunt, 73, told the Review-Journal that neither the police nor prosecutors have given her information about her son’s condition.

My heart’s broken. I’m in shock. I don’t have any answers,” Cecile Glunt told the newspaper on Tuesday night.

She resides in Florida and will fly to Las Vegas on Friday, the report added. Cecile Glunt also said her son had been diagnosed with cancer.

Following Thursday’s shooting, Glunt was rushed to University Medical Center and was listed in stable condition, according to Las Vegas TV station KSNV. Updates on his condition were not available this week.

No one else was injured during the confrontation, according to initial reports.

Recently, Glunt was charged with three counts each of attempted murder of a police officer, burglary, and robbery. He was also charged with a single count of resisting a public officer with a firearm, prohibitive person possession of a firearm, and carrying a concealed weapon without a permit.

Glunt was previously convicted on drug and armed robbery charges, the Review-Journal reported.

Two LVMPD Officers on Leave

Officers Leach and Gowens both were placed on paid administrative leave following the incident. The move is a routine procedure for LVMPD police-involved shootings.

Gowens was linked to two fatal Las Vegas police shootings that occurred in 2015 and 2016, according to the Review-Journal.