Carson City IHOP shooter fired 60 rounds from fully automatic rifle
By Martha Bellisle, Reno Gazette-Journal
The mentally ill man who opened fire at a Carson City IHOP restaurant, killing four and then himself, shot 60 rounds from a Norinco Mak 90 assault weapon that had been purchased by a private party in California more than five years ago, officials said today.
The Mak 90, a Chinese-made modified version of the Russian-made AK-47, had been altered to function as an automatic weapon, said Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong in a statement released early today. The details on the weapon followed a monthlong investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
“The alteration was described by ATF as professionally gunsmithed by an unknown person,” Furlong said in the statement. “The possession of this weapon in its manufactured state (semi-automatic) is not prohibited by Nevada State Law.”
Eduardo Sencion walked into the IHOP on the morning of Sept. 6 and fired apparently randomly at customers, killing three Nevada National Guardsmen and a South Lake Tahoe woman. He had a history of mental illness – his family said he was diagnosed with schizophrenia — and had been taken into custody by the South Lake Tahoe police in 2000 under California’s involuntary commitment law.