We are following up on our coverage from last week, when the Mineral County Sheriff, Bill Ferguson, said Nevada State Police had "abandoned" them.
We drove up to Hawthorne to speak with the Sheriff himself.
According to him, last week on Monday, there was a shooting where they did not ask for any state assistance, but it did exhaust most of their resources.
Then, that next Tuesday, on Highway 6 near the Nevada and California border, a southbound truck driver had pulled over after his check engine light came on.
According to the Sheriff, that driver walked over to a truck driver that was parked northbound, to ask for some coolant.
When the two were talking, the Sheriff says that's when another driver pulled up and started shooting.
They say the southbound driver was hit in the leg, but the other was uninjured.
Mineral County Sheriff's Office then called Nevada State Police for some assistance.
"Per the Sergeant, with the nature of the criminal act, this will be handled by the county and NHP (Nevada Highway Patrol) will not be responding," said a NSP dispatcher in audio which the Mineral County Sheriff's Office gave 2 News Nevada.
After that, is when Sheriff Ferguson reached out to the agency, stressing the importance.
"The only reason we had a response on U.S. 6 is because I called the Major on his cell phone probably at his home and I complained," Sheriff Ferguson said.
One NSP Trooper did eventually show up, but the Sheriff says it was about 10-15 minutes before the scene was already cleared.
Nevada State Police wrote us a statement last Friday saying in part, "To travel to a rural location, this process can involve travel time, as was the case with the recent Mineral County Incident."
Sheriff Ferguson says he has felt less of a presence from the state agency over the years.
"Over the years they would average anywhere to 20 to 15 arrests per year," he said. "In the past three years, they've had zero arrests."
The office has also seen less citations as well.
In 2019, Nevada State Police wrote 1,231 citations in Mineral County.
Last year, they only wrote 44, and so far in 2025, they have only cited one person.
We've reported on Nevada State Police's staffing shortages over the years, and Mineral County is also feeling it.
"I understand that they're working on short manpower," Sheriff Ferguson said. "So am I. I'm down seven deputies."
The Sheriff says that communication with Governor's Office has also not been the greatest.
"They offered to get a meeting together involving all of us, and I have yet to hear anything on that and I'm still waiting," he said.
Sheriff Ferguson says some of the other rural law enforcement agencies feel the same way.
We reached out to Nevada State Police and the Governor's Office for additional comment from Friday's statements and they have not gotten back to us.
