Two tribal police officers shot

SCHURZ - A tribal police chief, another officer and two residents of a home on the Walker River Paiute Reservation 90 minutes outside of Carson City were wounded in a shootout Wednesday as the officers tried to serve a warrant at the house, authorities said.

The four men were flown by emergency services helicopters to a hospital in Reno, FBI spokesman David Staretz said.

A spokeswoman for Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno confirmed Wednesday evening that Joe McMinn, the tribal police chief, was at the hospital, but she didn't know his condition. Staretz said both officers were wearing body armor and their injuries weren't considered life-threatening.

He also said he was told the other men - a father and son - didn't sustain serious injuries, although a spokesman for the Regional Emergency Medical Services Authority in Reno said one of the men was in critical condition.

Names of the other tribal officer and the father and son weren't immediately available.

The father started shooting as the tribal officers, accompanied by federal Bureau of Indian Affairs and Drug Enforcement Administration agents, tried to serve the warrant, Staretz said. He added that the man barricaded himself in the home, but surrendered after he and his son were injured by gunfire. A dog owned by the residents was shot and killed.

The nature of the arrest warrant wasn't immediately known, although Staretz said it may have been drug-related since DEA personnel were at the scene. A neighbor described the house as a known hangout for drug users.

A section of U.S. 95, which runs past the reservation and near the two-story house, was shut down for several hours a quarter-mile north of the Schurz Post Office as FBI agents investigated the site and tried to determine whether anyone else was inside.

Tractor trailers and at least one busload of students were diverted around the closed highway through Yerington or a back road along the river.

Gina Williams, the tribal chairwoman, said she had heard about the shooting, but didn't have details.

"I'm just waiting like everybody else," she added.

NHP Trooper Chuck Allen said officers from his agency, the FBI, the BIA and the Mineral County and Washoe County sheriff's departments responded. He noted the FBI had primary jurisdiction.

• Appeal reporter F.T. Norton contributed to this report.