Firefight at Pahrump, NV RV Park


gordo

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Click below for the newspaper article.

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I had my scanner on and heard the "shots fired" call go out. Two units responded and could hear more shots and saw some flashes. They called for more backup and headed for the area where the shots were coming from. This rv park is surrounded by a man-made earth berm made into hills and decorated with trees and rocks and boulders. The male officer was ambushed by the shooter as he passed by some rocks. By this time, several more units were arriving and covered the female officer from the original response as she dragged the wounded officer to her car and drove him to safety and provided first aid until the medics could arrive. Meanwhile, even more units arrived and they wounded the shooter in the leg and he surrendered. They called in two med choppers and transported the wounded officer and then the shooter to Las Vegas UMC trauma.

The crime scene was so large they called out off-duty officers. auxiliary units, and even the search and rescue people to find and flag each shell casing. Casino security also went to each rv to verify no-one else was hurt.
They even had to call in a Vegas Metro chopper to fly over and take aerial pictures, as ground pictures could not cover the scope of the whole scene when they were done flagging.

Thank God the officer is expected to make a full recovery and no one else was hurt.
 

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This is one of those scenarios that I'm not even sure that armed residents of the RV park could have stopped. I know if that were me, armed or not, I'd just duck down to the floor. When you hear gunfire seemingly coming from every direction like that and don't know who's doing it or where it's coming from the best thing to do is just to get out of the way until it's over. Being armed will accomplish nothing unless the shooter or shooters enter your home.
 
that's probably the best reaction in any shooting situation.. more than likely it's gonna catch you off guard and hitting the floor/running or crawling to cover at least for a minute to regroup... then decide what the best thing to do is.

glad to hear the bg was caught and the officer will recover.
 
Hi everyone. I also live in Pahrump and I know Officer Murphy personally. He came home from the hospital the next day, Saturday, and is expected to fully recover. He was shot 3 times in the back after he unknowingly walked past and then was about 8 feet away from the bg, apparently hidden and lying in wait. One bullet went all the way through, one was stopped by his vest, the last is still inside with surgery planned for the future. Thank goodness he wasn't hit in the head, and that he was wearing his vest! Previously, his wife had asked him to switch to the lighter vest, he'd always refused. The investigation is ongoing.

My comment about hunkering down is this: there were 15 other RV units besides his own that were hit with bullets from this bg; where exactly in an RV does one hunker?

Yesterday at breakfast at the VFW I noticed that our Sheriff was wearing his pistol. He rarely does so. I think the Nye County Sheriff's Deputies will be on high alert for days to come. The latest news on the bg is that he was in Iraq as late as this past September 8th, and that he might have been drinking heavily, and was expecting a military action of some kind. Too bad he didn't get the help he needed for PTSD (or shell-shock,) if that's what he has. Now, all he will have is a very long time in prison, which is where he should be so please don't misunderstand me, but there certainly could/should be more help offered to our returning military. Our VA benefits suck big time! So, now I can already hear some who will cry for more arms control when the real issues here are the lack VA benefits to help those who return from combat.
:sad:
 
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Hi everyone. I also live in Pahrump and I know Officer Murphy personally. He came home from the hospital the next day, Saturday, and is expected to fully recover. He was shot 3 times in the back after he unknowingly walked past and then was about 8 feet away from the bg, apparently hidden and lying in wait. One bullet went all the way through, one was stopped by his vest, the last is still inside with surgery planned for the future. Thank goodness he wasn't hit in the head, and that he was wearing his vest! Previously, his wife had asked him to switch to the lighter vest, he'd always refused. The investigation is ongoing.

My comment about hunkering down is this: there were 15 other RV units besides his own that were hit with bullets from this bg. Where exactly in an RV does one hunker?

Yesterday at breakfast at the VFW I noticed that our Sheriff was wearing his pistol. He rarely does so. I think the Nye County Sheriff's Deputies will be on high alert for days to come. The latest news on the bg is that he was in Iraq as late as this past September 8th, and that he might have been drinking heavily, and was expecting a military action of some kind. Too bad he didn't get the help he needed for PTSD (or shell-shock,) if that's what he has. Now, all he will have is a very long time in prison, which is where he should be so please don't misunderstand me, but there certainly could/should be more help offered to our returning military. Our VA benefits suck big time! So, now I can already hear some who will cry for more arms control when the real issues here are the lack VA benefits to help those who return from combat.
:sad:


Some very good points. Thanks for posting.
 
Glad to hear the officer is doing well. Those penetrations still sound pretty bad though. Hope he makes a full recovery soon!

My comment about hunkering down is this: there were 15 other RV units besides his own that were hit with bullets from this bg; where exactly in an RV does one hunker?
All kinds of things hunker underneath RVs. The most interesting place to hide during a firefight, however, is right next to the propane or NG tanks.
 
It is my understanding, albeit unverified, that the judge set the bg's bail at $2.5 million. I guess he considered the bg to be a flight risk because he lives in an RV, and even though he only actually shot one officer he shot AT four of them as well as shooting at 15 other "homes." :sad:
 
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It is my understanding, albeit unverified, that the judge set the bg's bail at $2.5 million. I guess he considered the bg to be a flight risk because he lives in an RV, and even though he only actually shot one officer he shot AT four of them as well as shooting at 15 other "homes." :sad:

Any accused murderer, regardless of where he or she lives, is a flight risk. Don't get me wrong I think our constitution is a wonderful document, but it contains too many provisions for protecting the rights of the accused, and not enough for protecting the rights of everyone else. That needs to change.
 
I agree :agree: 100%. The bg :wacko: is also facing 210 years behind bars according to the article in the morning's Pahrump Valley Times. When the paper goes online I'll try to remember to post the link so you can read the whole story, or you can check for the article on the front page of www.pahrumpvalleytimes.com on Thursday. The article did mention that the guy's wife had just left in a car after looking around outsidefor her dogs. It wasn't specified whether she was leaving afte for just a while or if she was leaving the relationship. The guy shot up the inside of his own RV, 32 casings were found inside. :dance3:


Any accused murderer, regardless of where he or she lives, is a flight risk. Don't get me wrong I think our constitution is a wonderful document, but it contains too many provisions for protecting the rights of the accused, and not enough for protecting the rights of everyone else. That needs to change.
 
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This is one of those scenarios that I'm not even sure that armed residents of the RV park could have stopped. I know if that were me, armed or not, I'd just duck down to the floor. When you hear gunfire seemingly coming from every direction like that and don't know who's doing it or where it's coming from the best thing to do is just to get out of the way until it's over. Being armed will accomplish nothing unless the shooter or shooters enter your home.

I agree. In my CCW class, I was taught that avoidance is the first option, drawing and firing is always the last one.
 
There were articles in the last 3 issues news of the Pahrump Valley times newspaper. Go to this link: Link Removed and click on the correct dates in the Archives on the left side of the page for the past few weeks to read them all.

***

I agree :agree: 100%. The bg :wacko: is also facing 210 years behind bars according to the article in the morning's Pahrump Valley Times. When the paper goes online I'll try to remember to post the link so you can read the whole story, or you can check for the article on the front page of Link Removed on Thursday. The article did mention that the guy's wife had just left in a car after looking around outsidefor her dogs. It wasn't specified whether she was leaving afte for just a while or if she was leaving the relationship. The guy shot up the inside of his own RV, 32 casings were found inside. :dance3:
 
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Hi everyone. I also live in Pahrump and I know Officer Murphy personally. He came home from the hospital the next day, Saturday, and is expected to fully recover. He was shot 3 times in the back after he unknowingly walked past and then was about 8 feet away from the bg, apparently hidden and lying in wait. One bullet went all the way through, one was stopped by his vest, the last is still inside with surgery planned for the future. Thank goodness he wasn't hit in the head, and that he was wearing his vest! Previously, his wife had asked him to switch to the lighter vest, he'd always refused. The investigation is ongoing.

My comment about hunkering down is this: there were 15 other RV units besides his own that were hit with bullets from this bg; where exactly in an RV does one hunker?

Yesterday at breakfast at the VFW I noticed that our Sheriff was wearing his pistol. He rarely does so. I think the Nye County Sheriff's Deputies will be on high alert for days to come. The latest news on the bg is that he was in Iraq as late as this past September 8th, and that he might have been drinking heavily, and was expecting a military action of some kind. Too bad he didn't get the help he needed for PTSD (or shell-shock,) if that's what he has. Now, all he will have is a very long time in prison, which is where he should be so please don't misunderstand me, but there certainly could/should be more help offered to our returning military. Our VA benefits suck big time! So, now I can already hear some who will cry for more arms control when the real issues here are the lack VA benefits to help those who return from combat.
:sad:


Very good points. I have more than a few friends who need this help but due to the way the system works are unable to get it. I always here we support the troops well how about calling or writing your representatives to see that the VA does what it is supposed to do. These guys deserve our support they need help. thnks again for the info
 
Now, it is my understanding that the suspect WAS in Iraq, but that WAS 5 or so years ago, not just a few weeks ago. I hope he gets the help he needs while he's incarcerated!
 
Just an update: we visited Officer Murphy and his family tonight, (his mom is my friend) we took them some homemade chicken noodle soup, good for the body and the soul, u'know. He is in good spirits and good health, he's up and running around with his kids and the canine officer in the back yard, very heartwarming to see!
 
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