Las Vegas police detail K9’s stabbing, fire: ‘I’m coming to get you’
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The man accused of stabbing a Las Vegas Metro police K9 eight to nine times yelled, “I’m coming to get you” at officers after he attempted to set an apartment on fire, according to an arrest report 8 News Now obtained.
Thurman Lowe, 64, was also wanted in connection to a fatal shooting in Missouri, 8 News Now reported Monday.
On Friday, March 29, Lowe, alled 9-1-1 and said he was stabbing himself, documents said. Lowe also said if police responded, he would stab himself again.
Officers responded to an apartment complex in the 1200 block of South Las Vegas Boulevard near West Charleston and found Lowe. Officers knocked on the door and Lowe responded by “yelling obscenties,” the report stated. When police called Lowe’s phone, he did not answer and ignored all other commands to exit the apartment.
Police saw smoke coming from Lowe’s door and, as the building’s fire alarm was activated, believed Lowe started a fire inside of his apartment. Metro evacuated the building and called the fire department as well as LVMPD SWAT.
Arriving firefighters attempted to extinguish the fire through the front windows of the apartment, according to the report.
Lowe eventually opened his door and stood in the doorway holding a knife in his hand, ignoring all commands police gave to drop the knife and get on the ground, the report stated.
He left the apartment and began walking toward the complex’s stairs, causing officers to fire low lethal rounds toward him.
Lowe yelled “I’m coming to get you!” and ran toward the officers, who feared for their lives and believed Lowe was going to stab them, the report stated.
K9 officer Enzo latched onto Lowe as he swung the knife through the air before stabbing Enzo eight to nine times, according to the report. Officer fired electronic control devices toward Lowe before a SWAT officer knocked him to the ground and police took him into custody.
Medical personnel took Lowe to a local hospital where he was taken into surgery and remains in stable condition.
K9 Enzo was airflifted to a local animal hospital where he went into surgery. Enzo is a Belgian Malinois and almost three years old. He has been with LVMPD for approximately one year, police said.
The LVMPD later posted on X that Enzo was feeling better and is continuing to recover. As of Sunday, he was reunited with his handler.
A warrant issued in January for Lowe out of St. Louis said he allegedly shot and killed another man then set fire to the victim’s home in an attempt to destroy evidence. St. Louis police responded to the house fire on Jan. 12 and found the body of 46-year-old Freddie Lee Tribbett inside.
A witness later identified Lowe as the alleged shooter and arsonist.
At the time of the shooting, Lowe was on parole after serving a 30-year sentence after a conviction in 1983 for forcible sodomy, first-degree burglary and first-degree robbery.
Lowe faces the following charges after Friday’s incident:
Arson, 1st degree
Assault on a protected person with a deadly weapon (2 counts)
Resist pub officer with deadly weapon, not firearm
Torture/ injure/ poison/ attempt kill police animal
Arrest fugitive from another state on warrant
A booking photo for Lowe was not immediately available. Court records show Lowe is next due in court on April 4.
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