Two Nevada police officers and a sheriff’s deputy were wounded Friday in an wild, hours-long event that included a chase through a Sparks neighborhood and a stand-off at a house.
Nearly nine hours after the incident began, the suspect was found dead inside a home where he had barricaded himself.
Sparks Police Chief Chris Crawforth said the incident began shortly after 1:30 p.m. on Friday when an officer made a traffic stop, KRXI reported. As the officer approached the vehicle, the driver pulled out a handgun and fired through the window, striking the officer in the shoulder. The suspect then drove off, but crashed into another vehicle and abandoned his vehicle to flee on foot.
At that point, officers from Sparks and Reno and deputies from the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office began searching the area, closing nearby streets and evacuating some homes while telling other residents to shelter in place in a four-square-block perimeter, the Associated Press said.
The driver tried to enter one house but was forced out by the residents inside. Witnesses directed officers to another house where the suspect was reportedly seen. When the officers arrived, an elderly woman answered the door and immediately dropped the floor as the suspect opened fire, striking another Sparks officer and a deputy. Other officers helped the wounded and the elderly woman get to safety.
The suspect left the house, jumped a fence, and entered a home occupied by another elderly woman, who hid inside her home. Officers got her out when the suspect went into the backyard.
Law enforcement brought in a SWAT team and negotiators, who tried to persuade the suspect to surrender for several hours as he occasionally shot at the officers outside.
At about 10 p.m., officers forced their way into the home and found the suspect dead. Police did not say how he died.
The three wounded officers were treated and released at a hospital.
Crawforth said the identity of the suspect would be released at a later time.
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[Featured image: KOLO screenshot]
