Douglas County deputies cleared in shooting death of Gardnerville man

All six deputies involved in the July 2015 shooting of Mark Perkins have been cleared of any criminal wrongdoing according to the Douglas County District Attorney, Mark Jackson.

At 2:00 p.m. on July 30, Douglas County Sheriff's deputies responded to the Gardnerville Ranchos after receiving a call saying the 48-year-old Perkins was armed with multiple weapons and had threatened his wife and told her he was going to shoot a police officer and kill a neighbor.

After receiving an arrest warrant for Perkins and a search warrant for his Monument Peak Drive home, S.W.A.T. and Crisis Negotiation Teams (CNT) were activated to serve the warrants.

At 5:30 p.m., as members of the SWAT team were deploying to secure the suspect residence and evacuate surrounding homes, Perkins came out of his home armed and confronted the deputies. At some point during the confrontation Perkins pointed two weapons at multiple officers. The officers fired their weapons and Perkins was struck by the Deputies gunfire and died at the scene.

"Based upon my review of the entire case file and applying the facts to the law, it is my opinion and conclusion that Douglas County Sheriff’s Office personnel (Sergeant Coverley, Sergeant Stanley, Investigator Storke, Deputy Johnsen, Deputy Saylo and Deputy Williams) acted in lawful manners (self-defense and defense of others) when they fired their weapons resulting in Mark Perkins’ death," Jackson said in a statement released Tuesday, May 17.

Chief Medical Examiner Ellen Clark, M.D. and Jackson both concur that Perkins’ death was caused by multiple gunshot wounds, and because the attribution of death was gunshot wounds inflicted by others, the manner of death is a justified homicide.

Jackson said he reviewed all Carson City Sheriff's Office reports (they were called to investigate), photographs, interviews with neighbors and family members, personnel involved that day, medical records and many other documents to come to the conclusion.

"The evidence in this case is clear, overwhelming and uncontradicted that Mark Perkins drew two handguns from holsters on his hips and pointed the firearms at two separate groups of law enforcement officers, and the officers then fired their weapons in defense of themselves and other officers," concluded Jackson.