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Authorities probe motive in Nevada IHOP shooting

CARSON CITY, Nev. — 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 as the shooter unloaded his assault rifle in a bustling business district.

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.

AP Photo/ The Reno Gazette Journal, David B. Parker

Police investigate the outside the scene of the shooting at an IHOP restaurant in Carson City, Nev., Tuesday. A gunman with a rifle opened fire at a International House of Pancakes restaurantkilling three people including two uniformed National Guard members and himself, and wounding six others in a hail of gunfire during the morning breakfast hour, authorities and witnesses said.

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.

Witnesses and authorities described a frantic scene, in which the shooter pulled into the large complex of retail stores and shops just before 9 a.m., got out of a blue minivan and immediately shot a man on a motorcycle.

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 but 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 got back in his vehicle, driving around in circles and shooting 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 on 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.

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."

 

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