3 officers shot in Sparks; suspect dead after traffic stop escalated into standoff

Three law enforcement officers in Northern Nevada were shot and wounded Friday, after a traffic stop in Sparks quickly escalated into an hourslong standoff that included several shootouts between officers and the suspect, police said.

Chris Crawforth, the police chief in the nearby city of Sparks, said Saturday at a news conference that the wounded officers — two Sparks police officers and a Washoe County sheriff’s deputy — were treated for their injuries and had been released from the hospital.

The violent standoff ended around 10:30 p.m. Friday when officers found the suspect dead inside a stranger’s home where he had been hiding, Crawforth said. The suspect’s name has not been released.

The ordeal began with a traffic stop about nine hours earlier. When the Sparks police officer approached the vehicle, the driver pulled out a handgun and shot through the window, Crawford said, striking the officer in the shoulder.

The driver fled but crashed the vehicle, then took off on foot, leading law enforcement officers from three agencies into a suburban neighborhood a couple of miles east of Reno.

Police closed nearby streets, evacuated homes and told other residents to shelter in place in a four-square-block perimeter of the neighborhood.

According to Crawforth, officers approached a house where the suspect was seen entering. An “elderly female resident” opened the door and dropped to the floor as the suspect opened fire on the officers, he said.

That’s when the Washoe County deputy and a second Sparks police officer were shot, Crawforth said.

The suspect ran, Crawforth said, and from the backyard of another home once again began firing at officers before retreating inside.

Throughout the lengthy standoff, the suspect on “several occasions” shot at officers, who returned fire, he said.

Crawforth did not release details about how the suspect died.