Report: Man who shot at Henderson cops had 186 guns, anti-government books

By Ian Whitaker

Wednesday, July 9, 2014 | 2:04 p.m.

Police found 186 guns, thousands of rounds of ammunition and books with anti-government themes when they searched the home of a man who opened fire on a Henderson Police officer who was ambushed while directing traffic, authorities said.

In a report issued today, Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said it was obvious that Edward Scheboth​, 63, was targeting police officers and was “intent on killing someone that day” last year.

But nothing found at his house pointed definitively to a motive for shooting at police, officials said.

The report concluded officers were justified in returning fire and killing Scheboth, who died of a single gunshot wound to the head.

The incident took place took place Aug. 20, a little more than nine months before anti-government radicals Jerad Miller, 31, and Amanda Miller, 22, gunned down two Metro Police officers June 8 in an ambush as the officers ate lunch. The district attorney’s report makes no mention of the later event.

According to the report, Henderson Police were working a fatal traffic crash at Horizon Drive and Boulder Highway when Officer Patricia Longworth, who was directing traffic nearby at College Drive, heard two loud “pops.”

When Longworth looked around, she spotted Scheboth coming toward her with a handgun and shooting, the report said. With no time to grab her weapon, Longworth threw her police cruiser into gear and got away, the report said.

She reported the gunfire over the radio, and officers at the accident scene immediately started heading to the area.

Officers Achim Brunette and James Dunn were the first to get there, and as they approached, Scheboth opened fire, striking their marked patrol vehicle. The officers got out and as Scheboth continued to shoot, they returned fire, the report said.

Brunette and Dunn both fired three times, and Brunette saw Scheboth go down after firing a final round, the report said. “I got him,” Brunette exclaimed over the radio.

Another responding officer, Travis Nusbaum, arrived in the midst of the shootout and fired a single rifle round, the report said.

Scheboth was taken to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, where he later died.

“Based on the investigation conducted at the scene, it was apparent Scheboth was heavily armed and intent on killing someone that day,” Wolfson said in a news release accompanying the report. “Based on witness accounts, it was obvious that he was intentionally targeting police officers. Thankfully, nobody else was harmed in this incident.”

Police found three handguns registered to Scheboth at the scene and a loaded rifle strapped to his motorcycle, which was parked nearby, the report said.

Police later learned Scheboth moved to Las Vegas in 1984 from Cleveland, Ohio. He was never married and had no children. He had little contact with his family after moving to Las Vegas, and neighbors described him as a recluse, the report said.

Family members said they never knew Scheboth to express a dislike for police or the government, and his only run-ins with the law were a couple of traffic stops for speeding in 1991 and 2001, according to the report.

Scheboth owned 148 registered weapons and had submitted an application to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for an automatic weapon, police said. Police found 186 handguns, rifles and shotguns at the house.