Rick Norton/Appeal News Service Investigators with the Lyon County Sheriff's Office examine a truck following a shooting Saturday morning on Farm District Road in Fernley. Shelby Joanette, 36, suffered gunshot wounds and was transported by a Care Flight helicopter to an area hospital.
A Las Vegas man is being sought for questioning in the Fernley shooting of his estranged wife on Saturday morning.
Lyon County investigators want to speak with Michael Young, 35, in connection with the shooting of Shelby Joanette, 36, in the 3000 block of Farm District Road.
Investigators said Joanette left her parents' Fernley home just before 9 a.m. to care for her horses. While she was en route, she called her father to say her truck had broken down. By the time he arrived to assist her, she had been shot twice in the head.
According to Lyon County Sheriff's Department Lt. Rob Hall, a neighbor reported hearing shots fired and reported a person down just after 9:31 a.m. Another neighbor gave a vehicle description to deputies.
"It's detailed enough that it matches (Young's) car but it's vague enough that we can't say whether or not it's his car," Hall said.
Young and Joanette had been married for "a few years" and were living in Las Vegas where they owned a business together. The couple did not have any children. It appears that Joanette recently moved back to her parents' home in Fernley and the couple was in the process of divorcing, according to Hall.
According to information from Lyon County Dispatch, deputies are looking for a silver 2006 Chrysler 300 with Nevada License plate 714UHS being driven by Young. Young is described as approximately 6 feet tall, 175 pounds with a slender build. He has reddish-brown hair and a tattoo of flames on his right shoulder.
Young has recently been in contact with Joanette through text messages, according to Hall.
Authorities in Las Vegas were unable to make contact with Young at his residence.
Joanette was taken by Care Flight helicopter to an area hospital in critical condition and was not expected to recover.
Crime lab personnel were processing the scene Saturday afternoon.
Anyone with information regarding the shooting should contact the Lyon County Sheriff's Office at (775) 575-3383 or Hall with the Detective's Division at (775) 577-5026.