S. Tahoe officer fatally shoots suspect at hotel

A South Lake Tahoe police officer fatally shot a man June 15. Photo/LTN

A South Lake Tahoe police officer this morning fatally shot a man at the Tahoe Hacienda Inn.

Officers were called to the hotel on Lake Tahoe Boulevard at 2:40am June 15 because of reports of a woman who was screaming and crying.

Ten minutes later an officer fired a single shot at a man in his early 20s who was trying to escape out of a hotel window. The man died a few hours later at Barton Memorial Hospital.

The victim’s name is not being released until next of kin is notified.

The officer’s name has also not been released. The officer has been put on paid administrative leave.

This is the first officer-involved shooting for the department since November 2004.

“This afternoon we are securing a search warrant so we can investigate the interior of the hotel room where the incident took place,” Police Chief Brian Uhler told Lake Tahoe News.

El Dorado County sheriff’s and district attorney’s detectives will be investigating the shooting aspect of the case.

A hotel employee about 8:30 Monday morning told Lake Tahoe News that officers had not told her what was going on. Yellow crime tape surrounded the entire hotel this morning, with part of the driveway open by the afternoon.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report