The Investigation of the Reno Police Shooting of a Man Running Away Barefoot

A mugshot and name have been released of the man who was shot by Reno PD Sunday near the Silver Legacy casino while trying to run away barefoot, ending up in the hospital in critical, but stable condition. He’s been charged with resisting a public officer with a dangerous weapon, and walking along and upon a highway, and is also now a “person of interest” in the disappearance of a Virginia man.

But what of the police who shot him? Their names are being withheld.

As is the practice locally when there’s a Reno police shooting, the Sparks Police Department is the lead investigating agency, with assistance from the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office.

Two local law enforcement shootings this year resulted in deaths. In October, Sparks police fatally shot Jason Thorpe, while in February, Jacori Shaw was shot and killed by a Sparks detective after a foot chase involving a police canine. The names of the police shooters have yet to be released in those two killings.

The arc is typically of redacted body cam footage being released, investigations taking a long time without police names being released, and then them being cleared of any wrongdoing, to the dismay of families of those who have been killed.

Meanwhile, one of the two finalists to be the new Reno chief of police is the current Sparks chief Christopher Crawforth.

Our Reporting Highlights This Week

We pursued our series investigating the local foster care system with a feature on former social worker Allie Blum, explaining why she recently retired from her job, now vowing to reform the system from the outside.

All things local fungi are discussed in the above q and a with Walker Sauls.

Our Citizen’s Forum contribution this week is by the daughter of Reno steel entrepreneurs hiring union workers and strengthening local foundations, while being worried by the area’s quick growth.

Our Reno seasonal book review is of Marley by Mark Ruin.

Our podcast this week is with Christopher Conway, a therapist with lived experience creating a new nonprofit to help survivors of childhood trauma.