Authorities are investigating whether the military
members were targeted. Furlong said Wednesday it's still unclear
whether Sencion was targeting people in the military.
Sencion shot each of the five Nevada National Guard
troops sitting together at the back of the restaurant. Another woman
was shot and killed.
Family members told investigators that Sencion, 32,
was mentally troubled, but he did not have a criminal history. He was
pronounced dead at a local hospital hours after the mass shooting.
"The sheriff may never know the motive," Nevada
Highway Patrol spokesman Chuck Allen said.
The shooting happened roughly two miles from the
state Capitol in Carson City.
Sencion stepped out of the minivan and immediately
shot a woman near a motorcycle before charging into the chain
restaurant. Witnesses said he had unloaded a magazine when he was
still less than 12 feet from his car.
Officials were analyzing the assault rifle to
determine whether it is automatic or semi-automatic. Sencion left two
more guns in the van—another rifle and a pistol, authorities said.
Furlong said law enforcement agencies are investigating how Sencion
got the guns.
The violent outburst rattled Nevada's capital city
after the long Labor Day weekend when many officials, including Gov.
Brian Sandoval, had left town. Carson City is also a jumping off point
30 miles south of Reno for travelers headed to Lake Tahoe or back to
California across the Sierra.
Nevada officials initially feared the worst as news
of the shooting spread. The state Capitol and Supreme Court buildings
were briefly closed and extra security were sent to guard state and
military buildings in northern Nevada to prevent further violence. The
IHOP is several miles from the Guard's state headquarters complex.
Sencion was born in Mexico and had a valid U.S.
passport. He worked at a family business in South Lake Tahoe and had
no known affiliations with anyone inside the restaurant, Furlong said.
He was not in the military.
Sencion filed for bankruptcy protection in January
2009, listing more than $42,000 in outstanding debts for a car,
several credit cards and some medical expenses. The case was
discharged four months later.
A lawyer representing some of Sencion's family
members called the shooting "an aberration of his character.
(Reuters) - A man with an assault rifle opened fire
at a pancake house in Nevada's capital on Tuesday, killing three
National Guard soldiers and a civilian and wounding seven others
before killing himself, authorities said.
The gunman, in what investigators said appeared to
be a random burst of violence by a grocery worker with a history of
mental illness, opened fire at a group of uniformed Army National
Guard troops as they ate breakfast.
Besides the three Guard soldiers -- two men and a
woman -- who were shot to death at the Carson City IHOP restaurant,
two of the wounded were also active-duty Guard members. A civilian
woman in the line of fire between the gunman and soldiers was killed
as well.
Carson City Sheriff Kenneth Furlong told reporters
that the fact that five of the 11 people shot were military was a
"cause for concern".
But he and other officials said there was no sign
that the gunman, a Mexican-born U.S. citizen, knew anyone at the
restaurant or had singled out members of the military before he
entered the IHOP.
"At this time, the investigation has not shown any
links to terrorism or militant groups," FBI special agent Patrick
Turner said in a statement. "We do not believe the National Guard
soldiers were targeted specifically, however, that is still under
investigation."
The bloodshed began just before 9 a.m. local time
when the gunman walked into the restaurant and began shooting,
according to a chronology of events released by the sheriff's
department on Tuesday night. Ten of the victims were shot inside.
One of the wounded was shot in the parking lot,
where the rampage culminated moments later with the gunman shooting
himself in the head, authorities said.
The suspect, identified as Eduardo Sencion, 32, was
pronounced dead later at an area hospital.
Several of the wounded were undergoing surgery at
two local hospitals, but details of their conditions were not
immediately available. Furlong said three did not appear to have
sustained life-threatening injuries.
NO WRITINGS BY GUNMAN
FBI special agent Mike West said investigators had
yet to find any Internet postings or other writings left by the gunman,
who authorities said worked for his family-run grocery business in
South Lake Tahoe, California.
Sencion has no prior criminal record, but "his
family has indicated that he has a history of mental illness," the
sheriff said.
In addition to the weapon used in the shooting,
described as a variant of an AK-47 assault rifle, Furlong said a
second rifle and a pistol were found in the gunman's vehicle.
The state capitol, legislature and Supreme Court
buildings were locked down for about an hour shortly after the
shooting as a precaution.
Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval ordered flags flown
at half-staff until Friday at dusk in honor of the National Guardsmen
who were killed.
Fran Hunter, 64, who works at Sierra Le Bone, a pet
shop near the IHOP, was having breakfast across the street when the
shooting occurred, and was so shaken she returned to her own business
and locked the doors.
"You read about this happening in big cities, but
not in our little town," she told Reuters.
The sheriff said he believed Tuesday's violence
marked the largest single shooting in the history of Carson City.
