Reno shooting suspect in custody, possibly shot by police
Male suspect in custody after barricading himself in apartment, female hostage safe.
The Las Vegas gunman who killed 58 people in October previously owned a unit at the Reno high-rise condominium that was the site of a hostage situation and shooting on Tuesday.
A gunman at the Montage condominium held a female hostage and fired off shots for around 30 minutes with a shoulder-fired rifle before being taken out by responding officers, police said. No injuries were reported.
"When you heard it's coming from above it reminds you of the guy shooting from Mandalay Bay," said Mike Pavicich, who was in town on business from Las Vegas and was standing atop a parking garage at the neighboring Eldorado Resort Casino when the shots rang out.
Stephen Paddock, the gunman in the Oct. 1 rampage in Las Vegas, owned a unit at the Montage but records show he sold the property in December 2016.
"It's scary, you know?" Pavicich told the Reno Gazette-Journal. "This is the same kind of town."
Tuesday's gunman, who is now dead, was not immediately identified by Reno police but was described as a young adult. It was not immediately clear what relationship he had with the female hostage, who was “traumatized and shaken up,” according to Deputy Chief Tom Robinson.
The man died Tuesday after a SWAT team descended on him while he was barricaded at the Montage, Robinson said. Dozens of police and emergency response vehicles filled the surrounding areas.
“Honestly I knew the shooter was close, I could feel the windows vibrate, I could hear things falling from walls,” Karl Fiebiger, who lives on the floor below where the shooter was firing, told the Reno Gazette-Journal. “So I was pretty glad to evacuate because I knew I wasn’t in the safest situation if bullets started flying.”
The gunman fired off bursts of five to eight rounds at a time, the newspaper said. Robinson said officers suspect that mental issues may have played a role in the incident.
The luxury high-rise is surrounded by some of downtown Reno's most popular casinos. The building was once a casino itself before it was converted into luxury condos, according to its website.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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