Suspect arrested in roadside sniper case

Jerry Fink and Cy Ryan

Tuesday, Jan. 5, 1999 | 11:03 a.m.

Authorities Monday night arrested a 20-year-old Minnesota man believed to be the sniper who wounded three people and forced the closing of Interstate 80 near Reno for more than five hours Monday morning.

Christopher Merritt was arrested during a routine traffic stop in Las Vegas after he admitted to a Nevada Highway Patrol trooper that he was the man they were looking for, NHP spokesman Scott Flabi said this morning.

Washoe County District Attorney Richard Gammick said the potential charges facing Merritt include attempted murder, battery with deadly weapon, assault with deadly weapon and shooting into a vehicle.

All the charges are felonies.

"We will be seeking prison time," said Gammick.

Washoe County Sheriff Richard Kirkland said the motive for the interstate sniping "was to shoot people, have their cars crash then run to the crash site and rob the person."

Kirkland said Merritt was frustrated because the cars that were hit stopped half a mile away.

"This guy is not a rocket ship commander," said Kirkland, who called him a "lunatic" because of his utter disregard for human life."

He called Merritt "a goofball shooting people."

Investigators say they are looking to see if Merritt may have been involved in the shooting of the wild horses in northern Nevada recently.

"This individual told officers he had been involved in other shootings in the Reno area," said Kirkland. "Police are following up on those."

Reno police will backtrack three months to see if he is tied in to other incidents.

Flabi said Merritt was booked into the Clark County Detention Center overnight and this morning detectives with the Washoe County Sheriff's office took the suspect back to Reno.

"A member of the Major Crime Interdiction team stopped a white pickup truck with Missouri license plate around 9:30 last night," said Flabi.

The vehicle was stopped going north on Interstate 15 at mile marker 66 because the license plate light was burned out.

Flabi said a records checked revealed the pickup had been stolen from the suspect's grandfather in Fairfax, Mo.

The trooper and a Metro Police officer who was riding with him as part of a Major Crime Interdiction team examined the truck and found a 12-gauge shotgun and a .22 caliber rifle, Flabi said.

During an interview by the officers, Flabi said, the man admitted to shooting at cars on I-80.

Ballistic tests revealed the weapons found in the truck may have been used in the shooting spree.

Flabi described some of Merritt's answers during the interview as "puzzling."

"He said he stole his grandfather's pickup because he had things to see around the country," said Flabi.

During the course of the interview, Flabi said, the suspect told officers he had intended robbing a number of convenience stores along the way, but there were too many by-standers and security was too tight.

Flabi said Merritt was booked into the Clark County jail on a stolen vehicle charge.

The gunfire on Monday had forced authorities to close the busy highway between Reno and the California state line for about five hours.

Kirkland said dozens of law officers had used helicopters and dogs to search "each piece of rock and sage brush" in the rugged terrain where the shots were fired about 7 miles east of the state line.

Flabi said six cars were hit during the sniping incident.

Three people were injured, including one man who was shot in the chest and is listing in critical condition at a Reno hospital, Flabi said.

Flabi said bullet shreds were lodged near the man's heart and an operation was too dangerous at this time.

The other two victims received minor injures from shredded glass to the eyes, face and hands. They were treated and released.

"The window kind of exploded. I heard a loud pop, glass shattered in my face," said Carl Ruggiero, a Reno dentist. "I thought I got hit by a rock from a truck."

Officials said the man who was shot in the chest was able to drive himself to a fire station a few miles from where he was shot.

Flabi said the man, whom he declined to identify, thought a rock had crashed through his windshield and hit him in the chest.

In two of the sniping cases Monday bullets traveled "right through the center of the windshield between the seats," Sgt. Bob Towery, a spokesman for the Washoe County Sheriff's office said Monday.

Children at three schools in the area were kept indoors, and afternoon kindergarten was canceled at one elementary school.

Dozens of law officers, FBI agents, a SWAT team and two helicopters from the NHP searched for the sniper.

The area of I-80 that was closed was a 10 mile stretch west of Reno.

The FBI is checking Merritt's background to see if he is involved in any other incidents