Gunman might have been hallucinating, police say

RENO— The gunman who took a woman hostage and opened fire from a high-rise condominium in downtown Reno before a SWAT team killed him didn’t appear to be aiming at anyone on the street below, police said Thursday.

No one was seriously injured when Lucas Stone, 30, fired shots for 20 minutes just a block off the main casino drag Tuesday, initially stirring fears of another massacre like the one in Las Vegas on Oct. 1. The hostage escaped unhurt.

Police in Sparks, who are investigating Stone’s killing by officers from other agencies, said their initial findings show that the shooting was not planned and had no apparent targets.

Authorities have said Stone, who had moved to Reno within the past year from Sacramento, California, and had no criminal history, may have been hallucinating.

“It is believed the suspect acted alone and the shooting was not a pre-planned event,” Sparks police Lt. Michael Keating said, adding that it appears Stone “was shooting at subjects that did not exist.”

“There is no current evidence to support that the suspect was targeting citizens,” he said in a statement.

A resident in a neighboring condo suffered a superficial injury to her hand but did not require medical attention, Keating said.

Two Reno police officers and a Washoe County sheriff ’s deputy have been placed on paid administrative leave while Sparks police investigate. The leave is standard practice in officer-involved shootings.

Two officers fired at Stone early in the incident, Keating said. A third officer shot at him after a SWAT team entered the condo where he had barricaded himself with the hostage. Stone was alive when apprehended but later died at a hospital.

It’s not clear if either Stone or the hostage lived in the condo at The Montage apartment building. Public records show Stone earlier this year lived at an apartment east of downtown after moving from Sacramento.

Stone divorced his ex-wife, Melody Stone, in Reno in June, according to documents.

The hostage has not been identified. Sparks Officer Ken Gallop said in an email that he could release no further details.

A search of public records suggests Stone was never was charged with a crime. The Reno Gazette-journal first reported that he had no prior criminal history.

Stephen Paddock, who killed 58 people and wounded hundreds of others from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay, had owned a unit at the same Montage condo complex in Reno where the shots were fired. Records show he sold the property in December 2016.