Sniper Suspect in I-80 Shootings Is Arrested in Las Vegas
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RENO — Police have arrested a man who they say shot at motorists on Interstate 80 so he could rob them after they crashed.
“We’re not talking about a rocket ship commander,” Washoe County Sheriff Richard Kirkland said at a news conference.
Six vehicles were hit by Monday’s gunfire west of Reno, and one man was wounded in the chest.
Christopher Merritt, 20, of Mankato, Minn., was arrested Monday night in Las Vegas after a routine traffic stop, Kirkland said. He was being returned to Reno to face felony counts of attempted murder, firing into a vehicle, battery with a deadly weapon and assault with a deadly weapon.
Merritt was pulled over for having a burned-out taillight. A check showed that the truck had been stolen from Fairfax, Mo. Kirkland said that the arresting officers found a rifle and shotgun in the vehicle and that Merritt made statements connecting him to the shootings.
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