Reno PD Shot Driver Before He Plowed Through Packed Wing Fest
Reno PD saved lives at Wing Fest
Reno PD attempted to stop a minivan on Sunday, but the driver wouldn’t stop. The vehicle intentionally swerved towards a police officer who was in foot, in an obvious attempt to run the officer down. The police officer chased the vehicle as it drove through barricades at the Biggest Little City Wing Fest, and the vehicle drove towards the large gathered Wing Fest crowd. Officers then shot the driver and he crashed into a booth.
Reno-Gazette Journal reports:
Reno law-enforcement officials are investigating an officer-involved shooting that involved a minivan crashing into a booth at Wing Fest in downtown Reno on Sunday afternoon.
The suspect in the incident has been pronounced dead, according to Bob Harmon of the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office. He said the identity of the suspect, an adult male, would not likely be disclosed before Tuesday. No clear motive has yet been determined. No one else was in the vehicle with the suspect, Harmon said. No citizens or officers were injured.
Harmon said the incident began at approximately 1:30 p.m. during an attempted traffic stop at the intersection of Park and Kuenzli streets due to the driver’s refusal to yield. The driver did not pull over and eventually made his way to Plaza and Center streets. The suspect then swerved toward a police officer who was on foot, apparently with the intent of hitting the officer, according to the RPD.
That officer chased the car down Plaza Street toward Virginia Street into Wing Fest. The officer shot through the driver side of the minivan. After the car turned into the event on Virginia Street, the officer then shot several more rounds into the passenger side. The minivan then crashed into a vendor tent and stopped.
After being shot, the suspect was given CPR on the scene and was pronounced dead at Renown.
Wing Fest events are continuing as planned, but Virginia Street was cordoned off between Third and Fourth streets while police investigated the scene.
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Sue Gomes, 67, of Sparks, also heard gunfire while inside a nearby casino.
“Law enforcement rocks in this situation,” Gomes said. “Everybody was on it.”
“Look at what happened,” she said. “It could have gone further.”
The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office is handling the investigation, per Washoe County officer-involved-shooting protocol. The Sparks Police Department is assisting.
It sounds like the Reno PD officers stopped this man just in time before he drove through the packed streets at the Wing Fest. These police officers had to make a split-second decision to fire at a moving vehicle to prevent the driver from killing anybody, and they made the right choice. It sure looks like the people on scene could see that the police officers did a great job. Let’s get the word out before the anti-police movement starts claiming that the guy was just driving to get some chicken wings. These officers are heroes and they saved a lot of lives on that packed street by stopping this dangerous person who had tried to run down a police officer.
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Mark
The officers involved in this are heroes. They did the right thing to protect the huge crowd of people. The fact there were no other injuries is an amazing testament to the officers ability. We were about 100′ from where the shooting took place. Thanks for your quick and decisive action, Reno Police!