CITY OF RENO/RPD NEWS RELEASE
Update
Renown Regional Medical Center released the name of the previously unidentified victim: Dr. Christine Lajeunesse. She is in critical condition but conscious.
At 2:05 P.M. on Tuesday, Dec. 17, Reno Emergency Communications Dispatch (911) received a call reporting shots fired at the Center for Advanced Medicine B, 1500 E 2nd St., Reno.
The Reno Police Department responded and arrived on scene at approximately 2:07 p.m. Personnel from other local law enforcement and public safety agencies, including the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, Sparks Police Department, Washoe County District Attorney’s Office, Reno/Sparks Indian Colony Police Department, Washoe County School District Police Department, University of Nevada Police Department, REMSA and the Reno Fire Department also responded to the incident.
Emergency Action Teams of law enforcement and other public safety personnel were rapidly formed and deployed to search and secure the facility, which is a medical services building on the northeast corner of the Renown Regional Medical Center campus. Four victims were located on the third floor of the building; two were deceased and two were transported to Renown for treatment at approximately 2:17 p.m.
At 2:20 p.m. Renown Regional Medical Center was placed on lockdown as a precautionary measure while law enforcement personnel continued their work in securing and clearing the Center for Advanced Medicine B, the surrounding buildings and parking facilities. Emergency Action Teams assisted staff and patrons of the Center for Advanced Medicine B in exiting the building or sheltering in place where necessary. At approximately 4:00 p.m. it was determined that no immediate threat was present on the campus and the lockdown of Renown Regional Medical Center was lifted.
Following the determination that no immediate threat was present, the Investigations Division of the Reno Police Department began its work to piece together the timeline of events and to establish a motive and determine investigative strategies. Interviews of witnesses to the event began shortly after 4 p.m. Twenty-nine witnesses have been interviewed thus far, with more interviews pending.
Based upon information learned from initial interviews and investigation of the crime scene, it has been determined that the suspect entered the office of Urology Nevada on the third floor of the Center for Advanced Medicine B and proceeded past the reception area of the office and into the patient examination room area armed with a 12 gauge shotgun. As he moved through the examination area, he fired at least four rounds from the shotgun striking three victims. It is believed that he then made his way back to the reception area of the office where he shot and killed himself.
The Victims Services Unit of the Reno Police Department, a civilian services unit, responded yesterday with six full-time staff from the unit and with assistance from the Sparks Police Department Victim Services and Trauma Intervention Program of Northern Nevada. The Victim Services Unit has been and will continue to work with both the primary and secondary victims of the shooting, including family, co-workers and witnesses. The Victim Services Unit will conduct follow-up contacts with more than 40 individuals they came in to contact with yesterday and will provide referrals and resources to assist them as necessary.
The next steps in the investigative process will include trying to establish a comprehensive timeline of events leading up to yesterday’s incident, determining if further witnesses need to be interviewed, collecting evidence and piecing together the entire incident as it occurred. These steps could take several weeks.
Primary victims have been identified as follows:
· Dr. Charles Garo Gholdoian, age 46. He died at the scene of the incident.
· Shawntae Spears, age 20, a patron of Urology Nevada. She suffered a single gunshot wound and is currently being treated.
· A female victim has requested that her name not be released at this time. She is being treated for a single gunshot.
The male shooting suspect is deceased and has been tentatively identified. His name will not be released until the Reno Police Department has been able to notify next-of-kin.
The Reno Police Department and Renown Health ask that the public respect the privacy of the victims, their families and co-workers.
Additional information will be released as available.
