A 17-year-old boy is accused of shooting and killing his father near Battle Mountain.
It's unclear where the suspect got the weapon, but with recent shootings like this one, allegedly involving minors with firearms, some people are asking how teens are getting ahold of guns in the first place.
Sheriff Ken Furlong of the Carson City Sheriff's Office tells us that in most cases they're able to trace back where the minor got the firearm, and it's usually from their family.
"It's not uncommon that the firearm is traced back to a family member," said Sheriff Furlong. "Safeguarding weapons at home is a responsibility of all of us and it's very simple: safes, locking cabinets, things of the such."
He says parents also need to make it clear to their children that weapons stored in safes are absolutely off limits.
Unfortunately, this isn't the only time a shooting was the result of a child taking a family member's gun.
Earlier this month a 17-year-old girl admitted to shooting her father and brother in Stead. The gun was her father's.
Sheriff Furlong discussed another recent time where a child found a gun in his grandparent's home and brought it to school.
"The young boy with some challenges that he had, without anybody thinking about it, was snooping around the house and found the gun that was in its storage location," said Sheriff Furlong. "He ended up taking that to school, and by the chance of God, we were able to get that gun before anyone was hurt."
Another minor-involved shooting involved a 16-year-old and a 17-year-old who are facing open murder charges after shooting and killing two other teenagers in early August at an apartment complex across from the university.
Police say the shooting was gang-related, another problem local law enforcement is focusing on. The Carson City Sheriff's Office runs a gang unit to handle these situations.
"If your activity that led to the arrest involves weapons and involves gangs, or if you have a history of gang activity, those violent natures are the things that we target to reduce and get in front of before they occur," Furlong explains.
This isn't the only recent shooting that is gang related.Â
Earlier this week three teenagers were arrested for their alleged involvement in a shooting last Friday on Plumb Lane and Harvard Way. Reno police say that the teenagers managed to access the guns that were owned by a family member.
Sheriff Furlong says these shootings possibly would never happen if adults did a better job at safely locking away their weapons.
"We frequently see that the person that owns the weapon was not aware that the weapon had been taken, and so it comes in much after the fact or after a serious crime is committed that the family realizes that a gun has been left unaccounted for," Furlong said.
To help prevent further shootings, Sheriff Furlong encourages all gun owners to safely lock away their weapons in a safe or locked cabinet to prevent their children from snooping around and getting ahold of them.
