LAS VEGAS – A teenager who was shot by police after he grabbed a 3-year-old boy from an airport toy store and ran through a checkpoint needs a mental evaluation before facing trial, his lawyer said Monday.
A Las Vegas judge on Monday approved sending Michael Allgood's case to Clark County District Court, where lawyer Frank Cremen said he will ask a state judge to order a psychiatric evaluation.
"He's got a mental problem. He's probably schizophrenic," Cremen said.
Authorities have characterized the 19-year-old as mentally ill, and police have said he indicated he was trying to commit suicide by provoking the shooting. Cremen said Allgood had spent six months in a psychiatric facility in Oregon before traveling to Las Vegas.
If Allgood is found competent to stand trial, he will face five felony charges, including kidnapping, battery and assault with a deadly weapon.
He is accused of snatching 3-year-old Quinton Moreau from a toy store inside McCarran Airport and running through the security checkpoint June 27. Police say he pressed a pocketknife against the boy's neck and lunging at officers and an airport passenger who tried to stop him just inside the security checkpoint.
Two police officers fired twice with handguns at close range, hitting Allgood twice. The boy was unharmed, and no bystanders were injured.
Allgood, of Wilsonville, Oregon, appeared at the hearing Monday by video from the Clark County jail, where he has been held without bail.
Justice of the Peace Pro Tem Melanie Tobiasson set another court hearing for Aug. 8.
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