D'Andre Berghardt Jr, 20

Las Vegas, Nevada
February 14, 2014

Agencies: US Bureau of Land Management - Nevada

Cause of death: Shooting

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Last updated: almost 6 years ago

Overview

The Los Angeles man shot by park rangers after a routine police stop just outside Las Vegas last week wasn’t homeless, didn’t use hard drugs and wasn’t a violent criminal, according to his father.

D’Andre Berghardt Sr. said he wanted to clear the air about his son, D’Andre Berghardt Jr.

“My son ain’t never been a gang member. He wasn’t violent. He never used hard drugs … I wouldn’t accept that s*** from him,” Berghardt Sr. said in a phone interview from his Los Angeles home.

“I don’t know what these (expletive) out there did to my son, excuse my French,” he said. “I won’t accept it. They’ll never have me believe that my son would have tried to hurt anybody.”

Berghardt Jr., 20, was shot and killed near the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area Friday afternoon after Bureau of Land Management rangers responded to call about a pedestrian impeding cyclists along state Route 159.

A video filmed by observers and obtained by the Review-Journal showed the lengthy altercation with rangers, who appeared to use pepper spray to subdue Berghardt Jr. but were unable to arrest him.