Las Vegas, Nevada – On August 10, 2026, at about 12:30 a.m., Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officers responded to a 911 call in the 4500 block of Pigeon Point Court in the Buftalo Ranch gated community near Buffalo Drive and Peace way.
A woman reported her boyfriend was chasing her with a blowtorch and trying to set her on fire. She later said she had been shot. Officers entered the home amid smoke, fires and gasoline. They found 48-year-old Jason Alan Simmons behind a closed door. He fired through the door, striking Officer Zaira Venegas-Hernandez, 36, in her ballistic vest. The round went through 24 layers and caused an upper chest injury. Venegas-Hernandez, with LVMPD since 2021 and assigned to Spring Valley Area Command, fired 11 rounds from her 9mm Glock.
Officers withdrew and declared a barricade.
SWAT and crisis negotiators later entered and found Simmons with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot to the head and a teenage girl, the woman’s daughter, with a gunshot wound.
Both were pronounced dead at the scene. Clark County
Coroner records confirmed Simmons died by su*c*de. The girl’s identity has not been released. The woman caller had left the home and was treated for a gunshot wound and burns; she remained in critical condition.
Officers recovered a .223-caliber rifle, three handguns and a blowtorch. No prior calls had been made to the residence.
Officer Venegas-Hernandez was treated at University Medical Center, discharged the same day and placed on paid administrative leave pending review. LVMPD Homicide is investigating.
Court records show Simmons was arrested by Metro in April 2023 on suspicion of stealing a car. He faced two felony counts and one misdemeanor, then pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor theft charges. He was a prohibited person in possession of a firearm.
Sources: Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department briefings and statements; Clark County Coroner records; court records. police
