Sheriff praises deputies in shootout

GARDNERVILLE - Douglas County Sheriff's deputies faced a dangerous situation in a professional manner early Saturday morning, Sheriff Ron Pierini said of the incident which resulted in the death of a man after he fired on officers.

"I'm extremely comfortable with what those guys did out there," he said. "It was a hard scene to control, one that was handled extremely professionally. The officers followed procedure to the best of my knowledge, and we are fortunate we did not lose an officer."

Pierini said 10 witnesses confirmed deputies' accounts of the incident Saturday morning when Joshua Able Petri, 27, fired on officers then killed himself.

He said there are typically three deputies on patrol during the midnight shift.

"I hope the residents of Douglas County realize the high-risk situation the officers found themselves in," he said. "It was dark; there were a number of people involved."

He said the shooting incident is one indication of how Douglas County is changing.

"We're dealing with a high amount of drug issues, and those drug issues lead to high-risk situations and violence," he said. "As the community changes and there is a lot more use of drugs, we're going to witness more violent acts. Our officers are going to have to be on higher alert."

Pierini said that during the graveyard shift, one officer will automatically back up another when there is a traffic stop.

"It is a high-risk time, so officers are continuously going toward the activity that occurs,"

The Douglas County Sheriff's Office employs 42 patrol deputies and six supervisors to protect 750 square miles and $2 billion in assets seven days a week, 24 hours a day.

"That would be a huge burden for any law enforcement agency," he said. "As the community grows, there are all these pockets. We have to look at it like three different communities."

Pierini said 90 percent of the 93 people a day in the Douglas jail are there for drug-related crimes. In the last year, the average daily population of the jail has gone from 65 to 93 inmates.

"If you look at Metro in Las Vegas, they have the same statistics," he said.

The Sheriff's Office has prepared a five-year plan to present to county commissioners during their budget sessions this week.

"We've done our homework," Pierini said. "We figure law enforcement is protecting well over $2 billion in assets, and we need to have the appropriate manpower to do that."