An arrest report describes a chain of punches, a thrown rock and a phone call that preceded gunfire inside and outside the store.
LAS VEGAS, Nev. — A dispute outside a Walmart that began with words and punches escalated in stages — first to a rock being thrown, then to a request for an armed man to come to the store, then to a shooting between shoppers and finally to fatal police gunfire, according to Las Vegas police and arrest records.
The July 21 incident on Boulder Highway is now documented through several kinds of evidence that were unavailable when the first reports emerged: an arrest report, surveillance footage, body-camera video, 911 recordings and a detailed police briefing. Together, those records describe how a disturbance involving several people around 6 a.m. became a deadly event in only minutes. Police say Travis Ward, 35, shot Kwame Swain, 28, inside the Walmart. Officer Cristobal Magana then shot Ward as Ward came out carrying a handgun. Swain survived and was later listed in stable condition. Raqiya Smith and Ameea Blue were arrested on allegations tied to the fight that preceded the shooting.
The first stage remains the least settled. Investigators said Swain was outside the store with his girlfriend when Smith and Blue passed nearby. The police account says words were exchanged, but reports based on different sources have not been entirely consistent about who initiated the verbal confrontation. That uncertainty matters because surviving defendants later disputed the prosecution’s description of the fight. What is clearer from the arrest-report account is that the argument quickly became physical. Police alleged that Swain, Smith and Blue exchanged punches while Swain’s girlfriend became involved in trying to separate people.
The confrontation then moved beyond fists. According to the arrest report described by FOX5 and KTNV, Blue picked up a rock and threw it at Swain, striking him. Police described the object as roughly softball-sized. Walmart security personnel intervened, separating participants in the fight. Investigators said Swain went inside the store. They allege Blue later picked up more rocks and followed in his direction before security stopped her and made her drop them. Those details form the basis for some of the allegations against Blue, but they remain claims in a criminal case rather than findings of guilt.
A separate decision during the fight became the turning point in the police narrative. Investigators said Smith called Ward while the confrontation was continuing. Witnesses told police they heard Smith instruct him to bring a gun. Ward then drove to the Walmart, according to the arrest report. Police have referred to Smith in different reports as Ward’s wife and as his girlfriend, while court and local reporting generally identify her as Raqiya Smith. When Ward arrived, investigators say Smith helped him locate Swain, who was inside the store. Authorities have not released evidence establishing that Ward had been present for, or had firsthand knowledge of, the original argument before receiving the call.
Surveillance video released later by the Metropolitan Police Department shows what police say happened next. Ward entered the store and moved past other people before drawing a handgun from his waistband. He approached Swain and fired, striking him in the abdomen, according to investigators. Police said Ward tried to fire another round but the weapon malfunctioned. Officials later said ammunition remained in the magazine. Swain was seriously wounded but survived. The shooting sent shoppers and workers away from the immediate area while the security employee who had called 911 updated dispatchers that the fight had become a shooting.
The emergency call provides a separate timeline from the arrest report. In audio obtained by KTNV through a public-records request, the security employee begins by urgently reporting a large fight. During the call, the employee can be heard trying to manage the disturbance while asking police to come quickly. A little more than four minutes later, the caller reports that a man has been shot. The recording illustrates how little time separated the original request for officers from the gunfire. It also helps explain why the first arriving officer encountered the armed Ward almost immediately rather than arriving at a scene that had already become static.
Officer Magana was pulling into the parking area as the shooting inside occurred, police said. He heard what he believed to be the gunshot and saw people coming from the store. Ward then emerged with the handgun. Police said Magana gave commands for Ward to drop it, but Ward did not comply. Magana fired six rounds from his 9 mm service weapon, striking Ward. Officers handcuffed Ward after he fell and attempted to provide aid. Medical personnel also responded, but Ward was pronounced dead. Magana, who joined LVMPD in 2024, was placed on paid administrative leave while the department began its required review.
Once the immediate danger had ended, the legal investigation widened beyond Ward. Police arrested Smith and Blue and alleged they had committed offenses including conspiracy to commit battery, battery with a deadly weapon and disregard for the safety of people or property resulting in death or substantial bodily harm. Smith also faced additional allegations reported from booking records. At an early court appearance, lawyers for Smith and Blue argued that their clients did not start the initial fight, while prosecutors presented a different account. Those positions have not been resolved at trial, and the criminal charges should not be treated as proof of guilt.
Swain also became a defendant in a separate matter even though police identify him as the person Ward shot. Authorities said he was booked in absentia while hospitalized on three misdemeanor domestic battery allegations and a felony attempted-coercion allegation arising from a separate domestic-violence complaint. Those charges are distinct from Ward’s alleged decision to enter the store and shoot him. Police have not said that the domestic case justified the gunfire or legally excused any conduct attributed to Ward, Smith or Blue. Swain’s girlfriend, who was present during the original confrontation, has not been publicly identified in the main local reports because she was not charged in connection with the Walmart incident.
Police said Ward, had he survived, would have faced possible charges that included attempted murder, discharging a firearm where another person could be endangered, unlawful firearm possession, carrying a concealed weapon without a permit and burglary. Because Ward died, those potential accusations were never presented for adjudication. His death also created a separate investigative track focused on Magana’s decision to use deadly force. The police department designated the case its eighth officer-involved shooting of 2026 and later released both the store surveillance footage and Magana’s body-camera recording as part of its public briefing process.
The department’s public deadly-force case page continues to list the district attorney’s decision letter and internal investigative reviews as pending. That means the public release of video does not amount to a final legal finding about the police shooting. The criminal cases involving surviving participants likewise follow their own court processes. More than a month after the confrontation, authorities have supplied a detailed chain of events but still have not established publicly exactly what provoked the first exchange of words outside the store.
The unanswered opening is significant because almost everything that followed has been documented in greater detail: the physical fight, the rock, the call to Ward, his arrival, the shot inside Walmart and Magana’s gunfire outside. The case therefore stands as a sequence in which the final seconds are captured most clearly while the dispute that set the events in motion remains comparatively uncertain. As of Aug. 26, police continue to list their deadly-force reviews as incomplete, and allegations against the surviving defendants remain unresolved in court.
Author note: Last updated August 26, 2026.