One person is dead - and two more are in the hospital - after an officer-involved shooting Sunday - that also ended with a home on fire on Grove Street in Reno.
Around 3:15 p.m., multiple agencies responded to the 200 block of Grove Street, between Yori and Wrondel, on reports of a shooting.
Initially Reno Police responded to a call about gunfire in this area. They discovered a suspect had opened fire on two victims.
When the suspect confronted officers, they fired on the suspect.
"The two victims are still at the hospital and the suspect has since deceased. None of the Reno Police officers were injured,” says Deputy Jeff McCaskill, Washoe County Sheriff's Office:
Deputies also say a fire broke out at a home where multiple families lived, but no one was inside. The fire was put out late Sunday night, but the cause is still under investigation.
Miguel Virrareal told us he knew the suspect, known by friends as Matt.
“We’ve gone riding before.”
That Harley-Davidson now sits in the suspect’s burnt garage.
Sunday afternoon, Miguel heard several shots, and then screams. And that’s when he walked towards the scene.
“He just stood there, like, didn’t say nothin’.”
He says he found his friend, gun in hand, standing in the back of his property. Miguel says he tried to talk to the suspect. “I asked him, ‘what was going on?’”
He says he never got that answer.
And police approached.
“Did he point his gun, from what you could tell at the officers?” asks reporter Landon Miller.
“No, not at all. He had on his side, holding it down.”
“And you had a clean view?” asks Landon.
“I was 15 feet, 20 feet from them.”
That’s different from what the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office said though. In a press release, they told us the suspect reportedly confronted the officers and that’s when they fired.
“I was telling them ‘don’t shoot.’ And they shot him.”
The bullets struck Matt.
“He fell to his knees, before falling face down.”
In the heat of it all, Matt gave his neighbor a look. “I’ll never forget it. You know what I mean?”
A look like he knew his life was ending.
“I hate to say desperate. But it’s like all the hope was gone. All the life was out of his eyes. Before he got shot.”
Matt was taken to the hospital where he was later pronounced dead. The Washoe County Coroner's Office will release the exact cause of death.
The officer involved in the shooting is on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
Anyone with information regarding this case is asked to call the Washoe County Sheriff's Office at (775) 328-3320 or Secret Witness at (775) 322-4900 or text your tip to 847411. Your information will remain anonymous.
