Officers pushed past the crowd and when they could not find the shooter, they headed exited the casino to regroup, then reentered, heading towards the nightclub entrance. One of the officers saw Bennett crouched behind a gaming machine on the casino floor.
Video footage from one of the officer’s bodycam shows police urging people to exit the casino, yelling “everybody out” to casino patrons.
Bennett ran from behind the gaming machine, exited the casino’s south doors and jumped over a rail. Despite telling everyone to exit, the police followed Bennett because “Bennett’s actions and the information officers had at the time, they believed Bennett may have been involved in the shooting”.
McMahill says after Bennett was detained, he was explained why he was stopped by a supervisor. Bennett told the officer he understood why he was detained and had no problem with what the officers did, except the officer pointing a gun at his head, said McMahill.
McMahill says police later determined the call of an active shooter was false and no gunshots were made in the casino. They’re still trying to figure out what made the loud noise that startled the casino’s patrons. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police did not learn of Bennett’s complaints with the department until he released a statement via Twitter. Bennett says he’s hired a civil rights attorney to investigate his legal options for the violation of his constitutional rights.
McMahill says because of Bennett’s statement on social media, an internal investigation has been launched and if any police training or policies were violated, the officers responsible would be held accountable.
During a press conference on the incident, McMahill denied allegations that Bennett was stopped because he is Black:
“While officers were searching the casino, they were able to safely evacuate many patrons of all races. It’s also important for me to note to you, both of the officers involved in this incident in question are of Hispanic origin”, said McMahill.
He also asked that Bennett contact the department to make a formal statement, as they launched the investigation without a formal complaint.
Watch McMahill tell the officers’ side of the event and video footage from one of the officer’s bodycam below:
*The bodycam footage starts at the 7:12 mark, with McMahill narrating the video*
Bennett and his teammate Richard Sherman spoke at a press conference on the incident, with Sherman detailing his own experience of being racially-profiled by police: