Police expert: 'We don't know the facts' of Bennett incident Consultant and expert witness 'extremely disappointed' that detaining Las Vegas officer didn't turn on bodycam

A still from video footage provided by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department shows an officer holding what appears to be a gun as he detains a man identified as Seahawks player Michael Bennett on Aug. 27, 2017. less A still from video footage provided by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department shows an officer holding what appears to be a gun as he detains a man identified as Seahawks player Michael Bennett on Aug. ... more Photo: Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Photo: Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Image 1 of / 9 Caption Close Police expert: 'We don't know the facts' of Bennett incident 1 / 9 Back to Gallery

It was a chaotic scene: After receiving reports of an active shooter inside The Cromwell casino in the early hours of Aug. 27, a handful of Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officers rushed past hundreds of people pouring onto city streets already swelled with thousands of extra revelers following a championship prize fight.

The potential for a massive tragedy -- perhaps along the lines of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando that left 50 people dead -- must have been in the forefront of each officer's mind. But this is what they train for. They ran in looking to neutralize someone possibly intent on shooting scores of people.

It is one of the highest-stress, highest-stakes situations a police officer can face.

Except there was no shooter. Sounds originally believed to be gunshots may have been nothing more than a couple of metal objects hitting a tile floor. That no lives were lost doesn't excuse the treatment Seahawks star Michael Bennett says he received at the hands of LVPD officers -- at least not yet. And according to police expert with nearly three decades of experience in law enforcement, the fact that we don't have all the information from the scene means we need to withhold judgement -- of the officers, of Bennett -- for now.

Jeffrey Noble, a former deputy chief of the Irvine Police Department in Southern California, now serves as a consultant and expert witness in matters of police use of force. He testified against Minnesota police officer Jeronimo Yanez after Yanez shot and killed Philando Castile during a traffic stop in 2016. (Yanez was eventually found not guilty of manslaughter.)

RELATED: Seahawks' Michael Bennett alleges excessive force by Las Vegas police

After reviewing Bennett's accusations and the official statements from LVPD (including a five-minute bodycam video from the night in question), Noble said we simply need more time to determine what exactly happened. He also said the department's admission that potentially conclusive footage doesn't exist because an officer failed to activate his camera was "extremely disappointing."

In order to make a fair assessment of the situation, however, Noble said it is important to remember what kind of call officers were responding to.

"We don't have an easy call to make at this point because we don't know the facts," Noble told SeattlePI. "We know some of the circumstances. We know why the officers were there. We know that they were acting in a consistent belief with why they were there. They believed that there was a shooting going on, which is putting a lot of people at risk of death or bodily injury. So that's where we start."

On Wednesday Bennett released a statement on social media accusing LVPD officers of using excessive force. He said after he exited the casino an officer pointed a gun at his head and threatened to kill him. In a press conference later in the day, a visibly shaken Bennett called the incident a "traumatic experience" before becoming too emotional to continue answering questions.

Bennett's statement included an accusation of racial profiling, and he has retained a prominent civil-rights attorney to explore his legal options. According to Bennett, officers singled him out as he fled the casino, and after Bennett complied with the officers' request to get on the ground, an LVPD officer put a gun near his head and threatened to "blow my (expletive) head off" if he moved. Another officer then handcuffed him while jamming a knee into Bennett's back, "making it difficult to breathe."

"Las Vegas police officers singled me out and pointed their guns at me for doing nothing more than simply being a black man in the wrong place at the wrong time," he wrote.

Noble said pointing a gun at someone is "a use of force in and of itself," and may indeed be unethical or even criminal, but he believes it is too early in the investigation of the incident to make a claim of misconduct or racial bias.

"There are times where it's very apparent that race is a factor, and there's other times where it may be a factor," he said. "We just simply don't know at this point.

"Anybody can come up and say, 'Of course that's wrong. Of course this is another example of a police officer pointing a gun at a black man for no reason,'" he continued. "Well, I think we have enough to look at and say this is more than that. We're not sure what happened here. We definitely need to investigate it. We definitely need to look into it."

In a Wednesday press conference, LVPD Undersherriff Kevin McMahill said Bennett's behavior -- hiding behind a gaming machine before running out of the building -- led to him being singled out.

"Due to Bennett's actions and the information the officers had at the time, they believed Bennett may have been involved in the shooting, and they gave chase," McMahill said.

RELATED: Vegas cops claim they singled out Michael Bennett after he ran

In video of the incident, officers are heard instructing bystanders to take cover during their first sweep of the building. On a second sweep, officers are heard shouting, "Everybody out!" In video footage obtained by TMZ, Bennett tells officers he was following instructions.

"They told us to get out," he said as an officer handcuffed him. "Everybody ran."

Las Vegas police say they have 126 pieces of video footage to comb through in their internal investigation, which began after Bennett released his statement Wednesday. The fact that the incident happened in and around a casino wired with video equipment should provide enough evidence to figure out why police targeted Bennett.

It's possible, Noble said, that Bennett's behavior legitimately raised "reasonable" suspicion in an active-shooter situation, particularly if Bennett ran into a crowded street outside the casino, as LVPD alleges, while other bystanders milled about.

"People in a panic situation sometimes make poor judgements," Noble said. "But (running into the street) certainly would raise the suspicion more than somebody who did something else."

It is also possible that officers made a grave mistake that could have resulted in a tragedy.

"This is one of those situations that is incredibly difficult to assess until all the information's been looked at," Noble said. "Maybe the police did things wrong. I don't know, and I don't think anybody can tell you that (yet)."

Noble expressed dismay at the fact that the officer who detained Bennett didn't turn on his bodycam, which could have yielded conclusive proof of Bennett's claims. He suspects the officer's failure to turn on his camera is a violation of department policy and expects him to face disciplinary action if so.

"That's incredibly disappointing," Noble said. "Those policies are in place for this very circumstance. The absence of a camera when the camera was there and available is problematic."

Noble believes there will be a full and transparent investigation of the incident. He commended McMahill for quickly revealing the officer in question hadn't turned on his bodycam and said he hoped Bennett would make a formal statement to LVPD.

Seattlepi.com reporter Stephen Cohen can be reached at 206-448-8313 or stephencohen@seattlepi.com. Follow Stephen on Twitter at @scohenPI.