The Reno Police Department has released body camera footage showing the moments leading up to a shooting by officers on February 3 that left 27-year-old Michael J. Johnson dead on the Wells Avenue Bridge.

Police say officers responded just before 4 p.m. after receiving multiple calls from people concerned that Johnson might harm himself.

According to the body camera video, two officers approached Johnson as he stood on the edge of the roadway on the bridge.

Officers can be heard telling him he cannot be on the roadway because it is not safe. They ask him to walk toward Kuenzli Street and sit down there. At one point, Johnson attempts to cross the southbound lanes, saying he will go to the other side of the bridge. Officers tell him he cannot do that and needs to get off the bridge. They explain they had received several calls from people worried about his safety and that traffic had to be stopped in both directions until he stepped off the bridge. Officers continue trying to persuade him to walk toward Kuenzli Street.

Officers requested assistance from the Mobile Outreach Safety Team (MOST), and Reno Police say the Crisis Intervention Negotiation Team (CINT) was also called to respond.

While waiting for those teams to arrive, additional officers responded. Officers spoke with Johnson for about 15 minutes, and he eventually began walking toward Kuenzli Street. An officer recognized Johnson from an earlier encounter in which he was reportedly armed with a small pocket knife. That information was relayed over the radio.

Video shows officers repeatedly asking Johnson to remove his hands from his pockets and to drop his knife. At first, he says no and does not comply, continuing to move closer to officers while putting his hands back into his pockets. When asked again to drop the knife, Johnson says he does not have one and that he is about to be on his way.

Officers continue telling Johnson to take his hands out of his pockets. At one point, he tells officers, “Do not walk up behind me, bro, or it’s going to be a bad story, bro.” The video shows an officer drawing his weapon while repeatedly ordering Johnson to show his hands.

The video then shows Johnson lunging toward officers, pulling a long chain from his jacket, running toward the closest officer, and swinging it. An officer then fires his weapon.

Officers move in, secure the chain, and begin providing life-saving measures. Medical personnel arrived, but Johnson was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Washoe County Regional Medical Examiner’s Office said Johnson was shot multiple times.

The shooting remains under investigation.

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(The video below shows three different angles.)

FEBRUARY 9, 2026

The Washoe County Coroner’s Office has identified the man fatally shot by police on the Wells Avenue Bridge last Tuesday.

The Medical Examiner’s Office says 27-year-old Michael J. Johnson died at the scene. The manner of death has been classified as homicide.

The coroner says he was shot several times.

The investigation is ongoing.

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FEBRUARY 4, 2026:

Reno Police say the officer injured in Tuesday's deadly shooting on the Wells Avenue Bridge is now out of the hospital.

Additional details about the officer's injuries were not released. 

The investigation remains ongoing. 

ORIGINAL STORY: 

A person has died following a shooting involving Reno Police on the Wells Avenue Bridge on Tuesday evening.

Officers arrived on scene for a report of a welfare check around 4 p.m., according to a release from the Reno Police Department.

They made contact with someone and spoke with them for several minutes before the shooting happened around 4:15 p.m., according to a release from the Washoe County Sheriff's Office.

The person was pronounced dead at the scene.

An RPD officer was injured in the incident. They were treated at the hospital and are stable.

An RPD spokesperson says that the officer is in good spirits, and RPD hopes they will be released soon.

There is a heavy police presence on Wells Avenue from Second Street to Sixth Street. People are advised to avoid the area.

The Washoe County Sheriff's Office is leading the investigation with help from the Sparks Police Department.

Anyone who may have seen what happened or has information is asked to contact the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office Detective Division at (775) 328-3320 or submit information anonymously through Secret Witness at (775) 322-4900, referencing case WC26-614.