Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
Stumble
AP Photo/Cathleen Allison
Emergency personnel respond to a shooting at an IHOP restaurant in Carson City on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2011.
Published Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2011 | 9:53 a.m.
Updated Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2011 | 10:58 p.m.
Eduardo Sencion
Beyond the Sun
Timeline of events
8:58.24 — Carson City Sheriff and Fire Communications received the first call (all 911 lines subsequently rang at full capacity)
8:58.58 — First sheriff’s units dispatched (34 seconds after first call received); request that all available units respond.
9:02:30 — Carson City Fire Department dispatches three initial units; advised to stage nearby for safety.
9:03:06 — Sheriff’s units arrive and secure scene.
9:04:35 — Carson City Fire Department requested at least two Care Flight medical helicopters.
9:06:05 — Sheriff’s officials allows CCFD to enter IHOP restaurant.
9:06.24 — Shooter down in parking lot next to blue van (later determined to be from a self-inflicted gunshot)
9:07:30 — First fire units on scene; advise of multiple victims.
9:07:48 — Fire department requested additional four to five ambulances.
9:08:28 — Fire department advised seven gunshot victims inside IHOP.
9:09:53 — All three Care Flight helicopters enroute (Reno, Gardnerville, Truckee)
9:10:39 — Fire department requests additional medical helicopter from CalStar in California.
9:28:46 — Dispatch notified that one helicopter had arrived, loaded and was heading back to Reno; second and third helicopter waiting to land; fourth helicopter canceled.
9:31:53 — First chaplain and psychologist en route.
9:52:35 — Seelinger Elementary School lockdown lifted.
10:59:09 — Phone numbers provided for victim information and family inquiries.
12:25:39 — Three patients transported by Care Flight; three patients transported by ground ambulance.
12:48:24 — IHOP president arrives at sheriff’s office; directed to scene.
Source: Nevada Department of Public Safety.
CARSON CITY — A gunman wielding an AK-47 opened fire on a table of uniformed National Guard members at an IHOP restaurant on Tuesday in an outburst of violence that killed four people, wounded eight others and put Nevada's capital city on high alert.
Five Nevada National Guard troops sitting together at the back of the restaurant were shot - two of them fatally. Another woman was also killed, and the gunman, 32-year-old Eduardo Sencion of Carson City, shot himself in the head and died at a hospital.
The shooter's motive was unclear, but family members said he had mental issues. He had never been in the military and had no known affiliation with anyone inside the restaurant.
Witnesses and authorities described a frantic scene in the bustling business district, in which the shooter pulled into the large complex of retail stores and shops just before 9 a.m. in a blue minivan with a yellow "Support Our Troops" sticker on the back. He got out and immediately shot a woman near a motorcycle, a witness said.
Ralph Swagler said he grabbed his own weapon, but said it was too late to stop the shooter, who charged into the IHOP through the front doors.
"I wish I had shot at him when he was going in the IHOP," said Swagler, who owns Locals BBQ & Grill. "But when he came at me, when somebody is pointing an automatic weapon at you - you can't believe the firepower, the kind of rounds coming out of that weapon."
The gunman went all the way to the back of the restaurant to the back area and opened fire, Carson City Sheriff Kenny Furlong said.
When he left the restaurant, he stood in the parking lot and shot into the nearby businesses, shattering the windows of a barbecue restaurant and an H&R Block and a casino across the street.
Officers arrived minutes later and found the suspect and the person who was by the motorcycle wounded and lying in the parking lot. The names of the victims, including two male Guard members who were killed, were not immediately released.
Sencion left two more guns in the van - a rifle and a pistol, authorities said.
As the attack unfolded, Nevada officials worried about the violence being more widespread. They locked down the state Capitol and Supreme Court buildings for about 40 minutes, and put extra security in place at state and military buildings in northern Nevada.
"There were concerns at the onset, so we took certain steps to ensure we had the capability to embrace an even larger circumstance," Furlong said. "At this point in time it appears to be isolated to this parking lot."
Reno-based FBI special agent Michael West said there was no indication of any terrorist plot.
As police interviewed dozens of witnesses after the shooting and kept the gathering crowd of media at bay, a body lay on the ground, covered with a white sheet except for the feet, clad in tan boots.
Sencion was born in Mexico and had a valid U.S. passport. In interviews with investigators after the shooting, his family raised concerns about his mental health, Furlong said. Sencion worked at his family's business in South Lake Tahoe and had no criminal history. The minivan he drove to the shooting was registered to his brother.
The shooting shocked some who knew him, including Joe Laub, his lawyer in a bankruptcy filing in January 2009, who called it an "aberration of his character."
"He's a gentle, kind man who was very helpful to friends and family," Laub told The Associated Press. "I couldn't venture to guess what would cause him to do something as horrible as this."
In the bankruptcy filing, Sencion listed more than $42,000 in outstanding debts for a car, several credit cards and some medical expenses. At the time, Sencion reported having $200 spread over three bank accounts and $923 in disability income, mostly from Social Security.
At a Reno hospital, service members gathered, waiting for word on those killed and hurt. A hospital spokesman said four shooting victims were being treated there, but wouldn't discuss their conditions or provide any other information. Two of the three wounded guard members were women. Authorities provided few details about the five other injured people, except to say one was a woman who was found near a motorcycle. Three of those wounded have minor wounds; the others were shot in critical areas of the body, Furlong said.
"You go a whole tour in Afghanistan and no one is shot. And you go to IHOP and several are shot," said 31-year-old Sgt. First Class Cameron Anderson of Reno, a Nevada Army National Guard member. "It's a shock. I came to work today and had no idea I'd be driving the chaplain here (to the hospital.)"
Another Guard member, 33-year-old Spc. Lee Amato, said he didn't know the victims' names but expected they were people he knew.
"It's hard to believe something like this would happen to really good people," Amato said. "It's like a hole, something taken away. It's mind-boggling and hard to comprehend."
The IHOP is about four miles from the Guard's headquarters complex. Nevada National Guard spokeswoman April Conway said she didn't know why the five Guard members had met at the IHOP. Conway said she did not believe any of the Guard members at the restaurant were armed.
"Our guards would have no reason to be carrying military weapons here today," Conway said. "We have no reason to believe that any of them were armed with personal weapons."
Furlong says they're analyzing the shooter's weapon to determine whether it is automatic or semi-automatic.
Nevada's capital city of some 50,000 is normally a sleepy town when lawmakers are not in session, a jumping off point 30 miles south of Reno for travelers headed to Lake Tahoe or back to California across the Sierra.
"I've lived in Carson City since 1961 and I've never seen anything like this," said Fran Hunter, who works at the Sierra Le Bone pet shop just north of the IHOP. "This is the kind of thing that happens in New York City or L.A., not here."
Associated Press writers Michelle Rindels, Ken Ritter and Oskar Garcia in Las Vegas; Martin Griffith in Reno; and Scott Sonner in Carson City contributed to this report.
"This happens in third-world countries, not here," Swagler said.
This man needs to stop living under a rock! Crimes like this happen in the United States almost weekly it seems. More surprising than the stupidity of this quote is the fact that it actually made it into print.
Yeah! More guns that's the answer.
Schaffer, you obviously have diminished cognition from some unexplained event. Armed patrons inside the restaurant would have ended the mayhem. Why don't you turn your anti-Second Amendment bias toward our Leftist leaders Obama and Holder who provided a thousand (or more) automatic weapons to Mexican criminals IN MEXICO at U.S. taxpayer expense.
Schaffer, I agree completely with mikegino.
This is a tragedy plain and simple.
Bob, I don't think you understand Mark's comment
More gun control is like fighting drunk driving by making it harder for sober people to buy cars.
So why didn't the well-armed citizens of Arizona stop Jared Loughner during his shooting spree this year?
Some of you people need to stop watching Die Hard movies! Most people duck and run for cover when they hear gunshots. Let the police handle situations like this. Pulling out your gun during a shooting is just asking to be shot by the real cops when they arrive.
"This happens in third-world countries, not here," Swagler said.
Fran Hunter, who works at a Sierra Le Bone, a pet shop just north of the IHOP, told the newspaper that the suspect fired at least two shots toward Casino Fandango across the street.
"I don't know what's happening to my city," Hunter said. "This happens in L.A. or Las Vegas but not here."
-------------------------------------------------
What idiots. This is why crazy gunman's exist because of people like Swagler and Hunter. Keep living in Lala land you dorks.
Wow. I'm surprised no one blames this on Harry Reid, as they do most everything on the RJ site.
This is a tragedy; it's plain dreadful. People lost their lives; and those wounded may still die.
My heart and sympathies go out to them.
Looks like they edited the story. Too late... people already got a gist of what Swagler is all about. LOL
Sen. Ben Kieckhefer tweeted: "My God be with the families of those hurt and killed...."
Why wasn't your God with them before this happened? Is he chicken?
To those claiming that if someone there had had a gun this wouldn't have happened (from the Reno Gazette web site):
Ralph Swagler, owner of Locals Barbecue said he saw a man wearing a red shirt and long black pants pull up outside the IHOP in a blue minivan.
Swagler said the man had a rifle and opened fire.
"It's so meaningless," Swagler said. "He stepped out of the car and started shooting."
The man then walked into the IHOP and Swagler and his son, Ryan, heard a rapid burst of gunfire.
"I had my pistol, but I wasn't going to go up against an automatic rifle," Ralph Swagler said.
http://www.rgj.com/article/20110906/NEWS...
A tragedy happens in Carson City, without any known motivation and few facts as of this time, and yet regular commenters here use it as an opportunity to grind their respective socio-political axes:
Mark Schaffer: "Gun control!"
Daniel Jackson: "Vegas sucks!"
Tragic, on all counts.
LT2LV, Amen.
The guy could have returned fire, however. It just kind of proves that the gun crowd is a bunch of cowards. When a real crisis happens, they duck and run for cover, praying they'll survive.
But they will go and vote for lenient gun laws that allow psychos like the shooter to easily access firearms. It doesn't make any sense.
Arab?
Bad things happen everywhere and to everyone, including good people.
What's sad is how a culture of blame has been cultivated where people feel comfortable in assigning their misfortunes to the thoughts and actions of others. This has resulted in violence as well as a general malaise that seems far too pervasive. The reasons/excuses, are equally as uninspiring:
"I can't get a job because Obama's not doing a good job as president."
"The Republicans are not helping making things better for me and my family."
etc. etc.
Both instances might very well be true, but we have a lot more power to change our lots in life than some may know. It just takes some effort and a little bit of courage. It takes self accountability that might be difficult, but is incredibly rewarding and self satisfying.
And it takes that effort to get help, rather than hurt others. That goes beyond the need for regulations or one's geography.
"Greatest city on the planet." I've lived many places, mostly large cities; in fact, probably in more than most here and I find Las Vegas quite a pleasant place to live. Every city has its own problems. And, I assume, everyone has their own idea of which city is the "greatest on the planet." Wherever I've lived, I've made a point to accept it for what it is and try to effect change where it might be needed.
Just watch. The gun nuts will say this latest attack proves America needs even more guns. Killing can only be stopped by more killing. Or something like that.
I know whats happening to your city Fran Hunter, too many nuts with too many guns!
"This happens in L.A. or Las Vegas but not here."
Actually, in doing some basic research "this" has never happened in either town.
This gunman obiviously had a deep-seated motive and upon further investigation, maybe he will leave some clues as to why he went out and did this. My sincerest condolences to the victims.
Exception: 1999 shooting rampage that left four people dead at an Albertson's grocery store in Las Vegas.
Comment removed by moderator. Inappropriate
The liberals will yell,(Gun Control). I say, to bad someone in IHOP wasn't carrying. This tragedy could have been stopped or perhaps circumvented. I guess law abiding citizens, abiding the law, become easy targets.
I wonder if Mark commented on the rape/murder article and said "Yeah! More knives, that's the answer."
heh By LT2LV Sept. 6, 2011 2:04 p.m. To those claiming that if someone there had had a gun this wouldn't have happened (from the Reno Gazette web site): Ralph Swagler, owner of Locals Barbecue said he saw a man wearing a red shirt and long black pants pull up outside the IHOP in a blue minivan. "I had my pistol, but I wasn't going to go up against an automatic rifle," Ralph Swagler said. http://www.rgj.com/article/20110906/NEWS...... _________________________________________________ The purpose of carrying a weapon is to protect yourself, not engage in gunfights. If the gunman had entered Locals Barbecue, it may have been a different story.
As with the case of a mentally disturbed man attacking a woman and her baby with an ax, we have another situation where a person with mental health issue has created a tragedy. Brian Sandoval your cuts have hurt the people of Nevada.
By samjung23
Sept. 6, 2011
2:17 p.m.
LT2LV, Amen.
The guy could have returned fire, however. It just kind of proves that the gun crowd is a bunch of cowards. When a real crisis happens, they duck and run for cover, praying they'll survive.
#######################################
Samjung, you're amazing. You're saying the the guy should have fired his pistol accross the parking lot at the gunman, putting everyone behind the gunman at risk of being hit by a stray bullet and got the gunman to shoot in his direction putting himself and everyone in his Local Barbecue at risk.
Ls1, like AAronboy and you have said, a person with a gun could have stopped this? Why didn't they? Why didn't that guy? Making excuses now? Pathetic. Face it, it doesn't work like the movies. These shooters kill in seconds, not enough time to stop most of the violence. If you look at a lot of real life incidents involving people getting raped or assaulted, mos often, people do nothing to stop it. Face it, most people are cowards. Lenient gun laws do nothing but help the psychos get easier access to guns.
"Why wasn't your God with them before this happened?"
SunJon -- excellent post
"I guess law abiding citizens, abiding the law, become easy targets."
Aaronboy -- another excellent point made.
"Because there is no comparison whatsoever between an armed and a disarmed man; it is not reasonable to suppose that one who is armed will obey willingly one who is unarmed; or that any unarmed man will remain safe among armed servants." -- Niccolo Machiavelli 1513 "The Prince" Chapter IV
@samjung23...duck and run for cover is a human instinct when gunfire erupts, doesn't matter if you're armed or not. When it finally comes down to you or them you should react with violence. A gun helps your chances. Would you rather go out in a fetal position or go out unloading a few rounds at the perp? I'll take the later.
@Brian D, nice fantasy, can you ever tell me of an incident where someone actually did this?
We have law enforcement in this country. This isn't Colombia! Letting everyone carry guns is a recipe for disaster.
If an armed society is such an orderly and polite one, what happened to Somalia and Afghanistan?
So where was law enforcement during this shooting Samjung? A few minutes away doesn't really mean much when you have AK47 rounds being fired at you does it? Can't believe you compare Somalia or Afghanistan to the U.S. WOW!
I was making an argument, not a comparison. Anyways, my point was, the average person, armed or not, is going to duck and run for cover. Even the police don't come through the doors of a shooting without waiting. Furthermore, ever think about crossfire in an incident like this? Untrained shooters could get more people killed accidentally. They could get shot by the police themselves. Would you want to be caught holding a gun when the SWAT team arrives? How are they going to know who you are?
It's already a crime to shoot someone, criminals by definition break the law.
Thomas,
Then all gun owners, by your logic, become criminals when they shoot someone. This:
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/201...
is for the wanna be gunslingers posting here.
The idea that someone in the ihop is going to break out his gun in time to shoot, hit and incapacitate this guy pretty ridiculous. Peoples instincts would have them run or duck for cover. This "Die Hard" or "John Rambo" mentality is ridiculous. It said the guy was Mexican but here on a passport? I thought the 2nd amendment guaranteed "citizens" the right to bear arms??? Was he a citizen?
When you go psychotic on antidepressants you don't care if you are not suppose to have guns or not, you just stockpile them because of the paranoia that develops. In fact AK47s are so common in these mass shootings, with an antidepressant behind nearly every case in the past two decades, that you begin to wonder if they hand out 1/2 price coupons on an AK47 with each antidepressant prescription!
Mark my word, this case will prove no different than what you saw in Mesquite when the City Councilwoman who was running for mayor there shot her husband and herself in February trying to withdraw from the antidepressant she was given to stop smoking. If you want to see 1000's more documented cases like this go to a database by state by Googling SSRIstories.
What they are doing is acting out nightmares. It is called a REM Sleep Behavior Disorder and 86% of diagnosed cases are taking an antidepressant when they do this!
mikegino - "Armed patrons inside the restaurant would have ended the mayhem."
Complete nonsense! The Giffords shooting in Arizona came close to have a far worse drastic ending than it did. One of the bystanders carrying a weapon almost shot the people disarming the gunman.
Just what they needed at the IHOP, bullets whizzing all over the restaurant.
Do we identify what brand of car a drunk driver was driving when he killed a family of four? Should we ban Chevys when they do? If you know what a root cause analysis is, do one in this situation and never will it take you to the gun as being the cause. If someone can prove that banning AK47's will put an end to these senseless killings by the mentally ill, then I will listen. Until then I still have a right to protect myself and my family, and disarming me will take away that right. Perhaps if America took better care of its citizens without healthcare opportunities, someone like this would have been able to get help before resorting to murder.
I bet the Dept. of Justice F&F damage control division - were cross referencing those rifle serial numbers before the medical examiner had even been called to the scene!
This is going to continue to panic the DOJ for another 20 years whenever AK 47's are present.
Hmm, disability income from SS..... an American Passport.... how does this work that one can be a 'visitor' by way of passport - yet work here, run up credit and then file bankruptcy here and then collect SS Disability??? All while not a citizen, correct? I'm so confused on how this is done...
"Sencion was born in Mexico and had a valid U.S. passport"
That means he was a naturalized citizen.
Everyone please calm down and enjoy the blessings of diversity and multiculturalism.
@RangerDan
"Perhaps if America took better care of its citizens without healthcare opportunities, someone like this would have been able to get help before resorting to murder."
Call it a hunch, but I doubt you support any public measures to address your concerns.
BTW, this person had access to HC. The problem is, and is never talked about, but access or not, what is being peddled in the USA as HC is not. We have NO Health Care in the US. What we have is a Profit Machine creating sick people, milking them, and sending you and I the bill.
as to the issue of AK-47's, well these should be illegal, simple as that. We don't allow grenades, bazookas, nukes or any other WMD in our communities, why the ak-47?
Mark, did you really link to NY Times as a objective resource on gun control ? lmao.
If the guy was psychotic, he should own guns. If the guns weren't his, the person giving him access needs to be held accountable. Sane people legally owning guns are really not the problem. Luckily the scumbag took himself out before killing even more people, but victimized citizens being able to defend themselves might have lessened the death toll.
AK-47's have no business being in our communities
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsOWSDtxE...
fact is we have crazy people in this world, there will always be someone out there. I doubt anybody with a c.c.w. would have been able have stopped this scumbag. just added to the body count. and i seriously doubt that more gun control laws would help ether. best wishes to the families of the victims.
@ mike_kerns
How do you figure? There was a guy on scene who wanted to shoot back but was severely outgunned. Outgunned because the shooter had a military weapon vs a normal handgun.
Really tired of the denial by people defending these silly weapons. Gun owners should be in the forefront demanding these ridiculous weapons be made illegal. Instead we get the excuses. How many more times does some nut have to plow thru a community before you people get it?
If you think Guns give you your Freedom you are horribly mistaken folks. If you really want to defend the 2nd you should be demanding the dismantlement of this massive standing Army we fund. They have nothing to do with protecting this Republic. I would argue they are the biggest threat to your Freedom.
stephen I do not think military grade weaponry should be made available to the public. but I do think the public should be able to own reasonably, guns for self defense,hunting e.t.c. and you missed my point, we live in a imperfect world and there will always be some bitter angry nut job out there. and what do you do if you ever have to face one?
Well what we don't want is dangerous things laying around for whack jobs to play with.
The history is clear and voluminous on this issue. It frankly is not even debatable.
I would submit, no AK 47, no shooting yesterday in Carson City. That simple. The issue to me is the GUN.
The NRA would argue the same (cause no intelligent human can argue otherwise) but support polices which would arm mental patients. See the NRA is the front group stationed in the US running cover for a World Wide Arms Trade. They use the 2nd (not even about guns) as some justification to own guns. This allows their bosses to sell guns all over the World. They arm both sides in Wars. They arm drug dealers. If found out, they insist the buyers file off the numbers which might trace to them.
I find it amazing we live in a country where it is now almost illegal to smoke a cigarette outside a store, but A-OK to own 200 rifles.
Here's a pile from the NRA. What they want their dummy supporters to believe is that weapon sales end at Walmart.
These people act as if weapons just magically appear around the World. Sorry no they don't and almost nothing happens here or anywhere else without the US being involved. If you believe otherwise I know you are stupid.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNuQ8mdIM...
Bobby,
I linked to a reliable source of facts you can't contend with so in place of rational discussion you post a juvenile acronym. Either you have specific information that is credible that shows the article to be wrong or you are just another conservative long on cheap sarcasm and meaningless rhetoric. I'll go with the second option.
stephenrblv:
Wow. Your debating skills need some work, chief.
Unsupported assertion doesn't prove anything, except that you're deeply convinced that you're right. Shorter version: Just because you say it doesn't make it so.
Three quarters of your post is nothing but your say-so.
Blaming this incident on the gun is a logical fallacy, as is assuming a correlation between the presence of a certain type of gun and the frequency which that type of gun is used in crime.
While crimes committed with so-called "assault weapons" are often spectacular, they are also unusual.
More people are murdered with guns than any other method in the U.S., but the vast majority of those murders are committed with HANDGUNS.
http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/homicid...
http://www.allcountries.org/uscensus/333...
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0004888.h...
If reducing crime and preventing murders were the real object, gun-control proponents would be going after handguns. One small problem - handguns are an excellent defensive tool and Americans loves them some handguns.
So, people who just don't like guns at all (and politicians who don't trust people to have them) have to go after a type of weapon that is easy to demonize. Well, easy to demonize if your audience is ill-informed and prone to emotional and illogical thinking :-)
Finally, a link to some NRA video about weapon-smuggling and calling anyone who disagrees with you stupid isn't an argument. Contempt and dismissal never change minds - they just allow those that engage in contempt and dismissal to feel superior. And that's what really counts, right?
http://www.gunfacts.info/pdfs/gun-facts/...