The 2023 officer-involved shooting was justified

RENO, Nev. (KOLO) – A new report from the Washoe County District Attorney’s Office finds that an officer-involved shooting that occurred in January 2023 was justified and legal under Nevada law.

The U.S. attorney’s office said Friday that the report had been delayed until the prosecution of one of the suspects, Jeremiah Graham, was completed.

At approximately 6:00 p.m. on January 8, 2023, Reno Police officers were called to 1570 Sky Valley Drive in reference to suspicious circumstances. The caller told the dispatcher that her grandson lived in Building D at that address and told dispatchers that someone had tried to open his apartment door before a gunshot was reportedly heard.

When officers arrived, they heard a woman screaming near Building D. Officers then found the woman, identified as Anna Doyle, whose face was bloody, bruised and appeared swollen. Doyle told police she lived in one of the nearby apartments with her boyfriend, Scott Kennedy, Graham, who she claimed was Kennedy’s brother, and Graham’s girlfriend, Salina Cruz.

Doyle told police she had an argument with Graham and Cruz and was forced out of the apartment and not allowed to re-enter. Doyle asked police to help her get into the apartment so she could get her belongings and leave.

The police then tried to contact the apartment’s residents. Cruz eventually opened the door and gave the officer a note apologizing that it took her so long to open the door, but she was sick and sleeping. Cruz denied knowing what happened to Doyle, but gave police permission to enter with Doyle to retrieve her belongings.

The police asked to search all rooms in the apartment. Cruz refused to allow officers access to her room, but allowed them to search the other rooms.

Doyle and Cruz were asked if there were weapons in the apartment, but they replied there were no.

Cruz returned to her room, locked the door and did not leave while officers assisted Doyle.

Doyle told police she shared a room with Kennedy and had to take clothes from the room. As police escorted Doyle to her bedroom, they walked through the living room and saw an empty gun holster resting on a fish tank. Additionally, while in her bedroom, officers observed an AR rifle hanging in a sling on the bedroom wall, a shotgun leaning against the wall, and several Glock pistol cases in the room.

After Doyle collected her belongings, she and the officer left the apartment and went to the parking lot to undergo REMSA treatment. While REMSA was caring for Doyle, an adult black female approached the officers, asking if they were there because of a shooting that had occurred earlier in the day. She also gave police the general location of the parking lot where she believed the incident occurred. Police inspected the area and found .40-caliber bullet casings and red spots indicating the presence of blood.

While police discussed the various incidents, Doyle separated from REMSA and refused to provide a witness statement. She told officers she had changed her mind and no longer felt safe. She also told officers that while she was being treated by REMSA, she received a call from her mother who said she had to leave the area because Graham was threatening to hurt Doyle if he pressed charges.

She was asked to complete a statement, but instead left the area. After Doyle left the area, police focused on the alleged shooting in the parking lot.

While officers on scene were discussing the incident, another officer arrived on scene and explained that RPD had received another call for assistance. The caller told police he was the victim of a shooting in the parking lot and was awaiting questioning at Wrightway Market.

Once police arrived at the market, another officer remained at the Sky Valley Drive address to monitor the crime scene and monitor traffic coming from the apartment. Police were concerned about the large number of weapons found in the apartment and suspected that the two calls might be related. They then developed a plan to contact the apartment’s residents if they left the apartment. While monitoring the apartment, police observed movement in the bedroom, where many weapons were located.

The officer then saw two men, later identified as Kennedy and Graham, walking near Building D and entering the apartment. Once inside, police observed movement in the bedroom shared by Doyle and Kennedy, which contained multiple weapons. Kennedy and Graham then left the apartment.

Police then tried to approach the two men on foot.

At approximately 7:33 p.m., one of the RPD officers reported that two men with weapons had escaped from the apartment. The officer gave a verbal order to stop before shots were fired at him, which caused the officer to return fire.

After hearing the shots, another officer exited his car with his AR-15 rifle and quickly moved toward the area where he heard the shots. One of the officers radioed that he had been shot.

The four then engaged in a shootout, resulting in one of the officers being shot multiple times.

Two other armed civilians who were in the complex’s laundry room then arrived to provide cover for the two officers until backup arrived.

RPD officers arrived and found Kennedy dead, lying on his stomach with the AR rifle still in his hands stretched above his head. Police also found a Glock 22 in his waistband and three unopened boxes of ammunition nearby.

Graham was found, still alive, with a gunshot wound to the leg. A black backpack containing a gun was located next to him, and an AR pistol wrapped in his shirt was found in a nearby bush. Graham was handcuffed and taken to Renown for treatment.

The officer, shot multiple times, was taken to Renown Hospital, where he was admitted and underwent surgery for multiple gunshot wounds.

The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office then investigates the shooting.

Graham was charged and pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of a firearm. He was sentenced on August 14, 2023 to 144 months in prison with the possibility of parole after 56 months.