Shannon Litz / Nevada AppealOfficers look for evidence at the scene of a Saturday morning shooting outside Toads Bar.
A 21-year-old Carson City man is in custody and charged with attempted murder after a fight outside a local bar resulted in a man being shot early Saturday morning.
Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong said Emanuel Moreno, known to be affiliated with the Hispanic Bambino gang, was arrested about two hours after reportedly shooting a Native American man, hitting him in the spine.
Furlong said sheriff's deputies were summoned at 4:13 a.m. by a bartender to a fight at Toads, 306 E. William St.
"The fight was still going on, and there was a large crowd fighting as the officers arrived about two minutes later. As officers started getting out of their cars, shots were fired, and one of my officers returned fire, and believed he hit him in the hand," Furlong said.
The crowd started to break up as soon as officers arrived, but the person who was seen waving a handgun shot one of the other combatants and fled the scene. Even though it was still dark, officers had a pretty good idea of who the shooter was, Furlong said. Fifteen others were detained at the scene.
The victim who was shot in the spine was taken to Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno via Care Flight, where he was being treated for life-threatening injuries. His identity and condition were not being released Saturday, Furlong said.
"It all started as a verbal altercation over a female inside the bar, which was settled without incident, but when they left the bar, a physical fight broke out in the parking lot," he said.
"By sun-up, we were able to see a trail of blood. We could see by the blood splattered on the wall where the first round hit," he said.
Within two hours of the shooting, Carson City Dispatch was contacted by Renown, stating that a second gunshot victim had shown up at the emergency room. That person matched witness information as the suspect of the shooting in Carson City.
Furlong said he had already had officers at Renown to talk with the victim, so they were able to wait until Moreno was out of surgery to make the arrest.
Moreno had been a target of local authorities due to an outstanding warrant for failure to appear at a Carson City Justice Court hearing.
He now faces charges of battery with a deadly weapon with substantial bodily harm and attempted murder, Furlong said.
A large area surrounding the scene of the shootings was controlled by the police until about 11 a.m. due to a lot of evidence strewn about, including the blood trail and articles of clothing. A .38-caliber revolver was recovered several feet away from the location where the blood trail began.
Furlong has not released the identity of the deputy, who shot the shooter with a .45-caliber automatic, and although a shooting investigation is pending, the deputy is expected to return to normal duties.
The investigation into the shootings will continue, he said.
"It is too early in the investigation to determine whether this was gang-related," Furlong said, "but if it turns out the victim was a gang member, there would be additional charges with gang enhancements added for sentencing.
In 1998, Carson City burst into the national spotlight as tense race relations between Hispanics and Native Americans exploded with a brutal motel-room beating death of Hispanic gang member Sammy Resendiz.
Twelve Native Americans originally were charged in the case. Of those, only one - Rocky Boice Jr. - stood trial. He was convicted in 2002, and is serving out a 20-50-year sentence in the Nevada prison system. All others accepted plea agreements.
"We do not want a repeat of the Resendiz thing; we're walking a fine line here. I've already talked to Washoe Tribal Chief (of Police) Rich Varner who will get together with the tribal leaders," Furlong said.
"This kind of thing can cause reprisals," he said, "but this is a time for people to draw together, not lash out. We're fearful of this escalating."
