© Jessica Ebelhar/Las Vegas Review-JournalA Metro officer enters the scene at 2595 S. Maryland Parkway where an attempted robber brandishing a sword was shot by a Dairy Queen employee in Las Vegas on Sunday, Aug. 19, 2012. The suspect died from his injuries
Homicide Lt. Ray Steiber said that although rare, robbery attempts with swords have occurred in the Las Vegas Valley.
"I've seen it before," Steiber said. "It's a deadly weapon in the right hands, and preliminarily, it appears he was using it as a deadly weapon."
The identity of the deceased man will be released by the Clark County coroner's office.
The incident occurred about 12:15 p.m. When police arrived, the suspect was injured on the ground just outside the doors of the restaurant at 2595 S. Maryland Parkway, near Sahara Avenue.
Steiber said the suspect was shot at least twice.
A second police official, Lt. Les Lane, described the sword as "full size" and more than "3 feet."
There were no patrons inside the Dairy Queen. Two employees were inside during the time of the incident, police said.
Steiber said the Dairy Queen clerk shot the suspected robber inside the business.
The suspect was transported to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, where he died.
Steiber said detectives were investigating whether the gun used by the employee was properly registered.
He said that during the initial stages of the investigation, the shooting appeared to be in self-defense, but that no determination had been made Sunday afternoon on whether recommended charges would be brought against the clerk. His identity was not released.
The Dairy Queen was closed late Sunday afternoon. Yellow police tape sat in a garbage can near by.
A woman who works close to the Dairy Queen said she heard loud noises and believed a car crashed. She said she didn't think the noises were gunshots.
The woman, who declined to give her name, said she peeked outside her work door and saw two Dairy Queen employees, neither of whom appeared older than 21. They looked "shaken up," she added.
She also saw the bottom of a gurney being rolled away. She didn't want to see more so she went back inside her work.
She said she is not allowed to carry a gun, even if properly registered, at her work. Her employer always has stressed that if robbed, workers should comply with the culprit or culprits, in an effort to avoid injuries.
Although she did not see the sword, the woman said others said it appeared to be a samurai-type sword.
When asked to sum of her feelings of Sunday's incident, she shook her head: "It's insane. ... Just nuts."
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