One dead, two wounded; police make arrest

Thursday, Jan. 30, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

Brandon Talbert, 17, was arrested Wednesday on one count of first-degree murder and two of attempted murder about five hours after bullets pierced the northeast Reno neighborhood.

Eliseo Mena, 18, was taken to Washoe Medical Center with a chest wound and pronounced dead on arrival, said hospital spokeswoman Kerri Garcia.

His 17-year-old brother, Alfredo Mena, was upgraded from critical condition to satisfactory with a bullet in the back. Erick Chagolla, 19, was in satisfactory condition with a leg wound.

Streets were cordoned off as a SWAT team and police negotiators surrounded a house in the vicinity of Pat Baker Park around 2:30 p.m.

After several telephone calls to the home, police rushed in, but found nobody there. Talbert was later found and arrested.

Witnesses said Talbert was involved in an argument with a group of other youths at a Wilder Drive home when the shooting began.

"There were about 20 kids, but only two were fighting," said Al Madero, who was home watching television when the fighting broke out across the street. "Pretty quick this guy came out of the house and started shooting."

Madero said the gunman, armed with a rifle, was not aiming at anyone in particular.

"He was just shooting everybody, I guess," he said. "The gun kept making these little pop, pop, pop sounds. It was a little rifle."

The area frequently is the scene of gang activity, but police said the incident does not indicate an increase in gang violence.

"We do have occasional conflicts and confrontations between rival gangs or gang members," police said in a written statement. "However, this is not an indication that this incident was part of an escalation in gang-related activity in our community."