South Lake Tahoe woman killed in Carson City shooting rampage; husband injured
By Kathryn Reed
A South Lake Tahoe woman is one of the four people killed by a gunman Tuesday at IHOP in Carson City.
Florence Donovan-Gunderson, 67, was at the restaurant having breakfast with her husband, Wally Gunderson, when shots rang out just before 9am. He was wounded, but his condition is unknown.
Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong at a 9am press conference this morning said it was not believed the South Lake Tahoe couple was sitting with the Nevada National Guard personnel, but were at a nearby table.
Eduardo Sencion, 32, of Carson City is the shooter. He later shot himself, dying Tuesday afternoon at Carson Tahoe Hospital. Sencion with his brothers ran Mi Pueblo market in South Lake Tahoe and Stead. Their second Tahoe store closed last year.
“The family is grieving. They did not take part in this. They are cooperating,” Furlong said of Sencion’s family. His brother Gilberto Sencion Gonzalez is listed as the owner of the South Lake Tahoe market.
The others killed were all members of the National Guard. They are: Those killed included Maj. Heath Kelly of Reno, Sgt. 1st Class Christian Riege of Carson City, and Sgt. Miranda McElniney of Reno.
The names of the other injured are not being released. The extent of their injuries range from they will recover to life-threatening, according to Furlong.
What a shame! I grew up with her daughter, amazing lady, kind, giving, caring. She loved being a mom, grandma, and loved Lake Tahoe. She will be missed!
NRA NRA
I’ve known Wally for almost 28 yrs we worked together at Caesars Tahoe in Security and Bill’s in Surv. great guy who was a Marine JAG during Vietnam War and later as a Detective in Dade County, Florida before moving to Tahoe. As Coach Beef said Florrie was a great lady, she loved to travel and for many yrs was involved with a program which allowed Tahoe residents to see some of the great houses in our area every summer, she will be missed and my thoughts and prayers with Wally at this time.
So unnecessary. Why? Why? Why? How did this guy (or anyone for that matter) get 2 AK-47’s? What is wrong with this world? Thoughts and prayers go out to all the victims.
Terribly tragic and sad. One never knows what the day will bring. There is no explanation or excuse. Thoughts and prayers to all families involved and affected.
It wasn’t the AK-47’s fault. It was the man who held it.
Alex, maybe if there’d been some armed NRA members (or maybe if our military were allowed to be armed instead of being uniformed targets) that lunatic wouldn’t have managed to kill and wound so many innocent people. Nobody was there who was able to protect people from the mayhem. And there should have been.
I knew Miranda for 31 years and served with her in the Guard. She and all the others, Military and Civilian alike will be missed. Having spent 21 of my 35 years of living in Tahoe in the Nevada Guard I am close to all of them there and have been in contact with them from the begining and am heading down there tommorrow.
Just curious… I know of one or two incidents in which an armed civilian was able to prevent violence. How many times does that really happen?
Note: I am against most gun control, primarily because it is impossible (people make fully capable AK’s over wood fires in Afghanistan), not because it makes anyone safer.
I just found out that Florence Donovan-Gunderson was the mother of one of my son’s classmates. My heart goes out to those who died or were injured (and their families and friends) in this thoughtless act.
“How did this guy (or anyone for that matter) get 2 AK-47’s?”
These are machine guns, and illegal, unless of a rare registered type that costs $10,000 or more. He had illegal guns, reportedly from Mexico. And the reason “anyone” (though not mentally ill committed people like the shooter) get rifles (the one-shot-at-a-time type) is because we have a right to them.
Don’t exploit the blood of the victims of one evil man to support your anti-gun politics.
“Don’t exploit the blood of the victims of one evil man to support your anti-gun politics.”
Your missing the point–How many coutless innocent victims will it take–shooting after shooting with guns–this is like the 5th major shooting this year. Too many people are dying because of guns…..something needs to change….
Enough of your NRA spouting. It’s the easy availablity of guns that is the problem, plain and simple.
If gun laws are the answer then how come an individual that had been committed to a mental institution was able to get a gun? Patricia, you forgot one word in your sentence, I will fill it in. “It is the easy availability of ILLEGAL guns that is the problem, plain and simple.”
Guys, this was a semi-auto AK-47, and yes, these are *legal* to own and possess. This was not a machine gun, which, as one poster pointed out, can only be possessed legally by registered owners who pay a large tax and pass a background check, and are purchased at great expense.
This is the kind of tragedy that cannot be prevented by gun laws; crazy or evil people who are motivated to obtain a weapon will always be able to do so. I agree with another poster that had there been one or more people exercising their right to carry a concealed weapon in Nevada (you Californians don’t have the same right, more’s the pity) this tragedy might have been prevented. We need more good people armed, not more useless laws which deny people’s God-given right of legal and efficacious self-defense. My prayers go out to the family of the victims, and to that of the shooter. They all must be really hurting right now.
Conservation Robot: You asked for examples of armed citizens defending themselves. Here’s one from earlier this week: Jeremy Hoven of Benton Township, Michigan, used a firearm to defend himself against an armed robbery.
Robot, it’s not terribly surprising that we don’t often hear of stories of successful armed self-defense, since the media is largely controlled and run by those who are not in favor of this right. I suggest you do some reading on the subject, such as the book “More Guns, Less Crime” which does a pretty thorough job of explaining all the issues, and includes statistics on armed self-defense.
I am attending the funeral for the Guard members on Sunday as I am involved with them. My thoughts and prayers will also be with the loss of life of people who were not members of the military.