LAS VEGAS — A cloud of grief and controversy surrounds a southeast Las Vegas tragedy after 3-year-old Kentre Baker was fatally shot early Monday, during a standoff between police and his estranged father, Quinton Baker. Raneka Pate, Kentre’s mother, is publicly challenging the police account of the incident, insisting her son’s father was unarmed when officers fired.

Pate told KSNV that she called authorities around 1:20 a.m. to the Parkside Villas apartment complex on South Maryland Parkway, reporting a domestic dispute. Police said they responded to reports of a man battering a woman and attempting to take a child. Capt. Ryan Wiggins of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department stated that Baker had fired a gun in the parking lot. According to Metro, Quinton Baker emerged from the apartment holding Kentre and allegedly pointed a firearm at the boy while ignoring police commands. Officers say Baker discharged the weapon toward the child, prompting them to return fire. Kentre was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Baker was killed at the scene. No officers were injured, and this marked Metro’s third officer-involved shooting this year.