It took one second for Las Vegas police officer Alexander Bookman to shoot and kill Brandon Durham on Tuesday after ordering him to “drop the knife,” firing six times after entering Durham’s home.
But Durham, a 43-year-old Black man who worked in real estate, was the owner of the home and had his daughter call police for help to report a home invasion.
And the video appears to show it was the female intruder holding the knife while Durham was holding her wrists with both hands to keep from being stabbed.
“Hey! Hey! Drop the knife! Drop the knife!” yelled Bookman, opening fire while yelling orders.
The first bullet appeared to strike Durham in the head, causing him to groan in pain as he fell to the floor. Bookman then fired an additional five shots after Durham was on the floor.
“Put your hands up!” Bookman yelled.
But by then, Durham was dead and the only person capable of lifting their arms was the woman who had broken into Durham’s home after shattering several car windows outside his home.
Alejandra Marie Boudreaux, 31, was arrested on charges of home invasion while in possession of a firearm or deadly weapon; assault constituting domestic violence with use of deadly weapon; child abuse or neglect; and disregarding safety of person or property — all which are felonies — according to online court records from Clark County.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police told local media that Durham had a prior relationship with Boudreaux but did not elaborate on that relationship.
Durham’s 15-year-old daughter, Isabella Durham, was in the house when her father was killed, hiding in a bedroom.
“I heard the gunshots. I heard them, and I’m disgusted,” the daughter said at a news conference late Thursday outside the home, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
“When I grabbed my phone, and I handed it to him, that was the last time I saw my father alive.”
The Shooting
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police released a 55-second video from Bookman’s body camera, showing the officer arriving in his patrol car.
The dispatcher can be heard describing a person between the ages of 20 and 35 with a medium built wearing a black sweatshirt and black sweatpants moments before Bookman stepped out of his patrol car.
The sound of a man yelling can be heard from inside the house, prompting Bookman to kick the door open and enter the house with his gun drawn, followed by another officer.
The man’s pleas for help gets louder and loud banging can also be heard as the cops make their way to the back of the home, encountering Durham struggling with Boudreaux in a doorway to a bedroom.
It appears Boudreaux is wearing a black sweatshirt and sweatpants, but beneath the sweatshirt she is wearing a red hoodie with her head covered. But Bookman shot Durham, who was only wearing underwear.
Police have not said who was holding the knife, only saying the two were “struggling over a knife.”
But Durham’s family viewed the video and believe he was never holding the knife.
“What colors are you looking at? Not the colors of the clothes. You’re looking at the color of the skin, and that’s why he’s dead,” Rachael Gore, Durham’s registered domestic partner who describes herself as his wife, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Police said Boudreaux is also Black. But because she was wearing a hoodie and long-sleeved shirt, her skin color was not as evident as that of Durham, who was only wearing underwear.
Durham’s friend Branden Cinquegrani described his friend as a “good man.”
“I just want everybody out there to know that he’s not a knife-wielding man in Sunset Park,” he told the Review-Journal.
Durham’s mother, Lenore DeJesus, also expressed outrage at the news conference.
“What I want, and what I demand, is answers,” she said, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
“The police department owes us those answers,” she continued. “Not lies, not made up stories, not things to cover their action. They need to take responsibility for what happened and give us the answers we deserve. We deserve no less.”
Bookman, 26, has been placed on paid administrative leave. Durham’s shooting is the 13th this year by Las Vegas police, eight which have been fatal, according to the Las Vegas Sun.
Last year at this time, Las Vegas police had shot six people, two of whom died.
“My brother is dead because a police officer was not properly trained,” Durham’s sister, Diane Wright, told 8 News Now.
“The officer shoots my brother in the head, continues to shoot him at least four more times when my brother is laying there dead on the floor … and saying, ‘Stay down.’” Wright said. “Where is he going? He’s already been killed by you?”
