2nd suspect in deadly Richland shooting arrested at Las Vegas convenience store
A second suspect in a Richland shooting was caught in Las Vegas just over a week after he allegedly hit two police cars escaping from authorities in the Tri-Cities.
Michael T. Reep, 28, was arrested at a Las Vegas convenience store Thursday, according to a Richland police Facebook post. The U.S. Marshals Pacific Southwest Regional Fugitive Task Force worked with Las Vegas Metro Police to locate and arrest him.
He has been booked into Clark County jail to await extradition back to Benton County.
While Richland police have said Reep is a suspect in the Jan. 26 shooting on McMurray Avenue, he has not been charged with shooting anyone.
Instead, he is facing two counts of illegally possessing a gun — one from the Jan. 26 shooting and the second in connection to his Feb. 1 escape from police.
Two $500,000 nationwide warrants had been issued.
Police had been searching for Reep since he fled the shooting with his girlfriend, Lara Maria Garcia, 27.
Jarrod Yockey, 51, was found dead inside the house and Dustin P. Nelson, 37, and a 25-year-old woman were wounded but flagged down passersby and survived.
Garcia was arrested days later on two counts of first-degree assault for allegedly shooting Nelson and the woman.
Deadly shooting
Two versions of the events have come out in court records since the shooting. In both, Nelson and Yockey went to the McMurray Avenue home about 10 a.m. with a 25-year-old woman to get some items they claim had been stolen.
Nelson’s said they spoke with Reep through a window and eventually were invited inside by Garcia.
Yockey ended up fighting with the homeowner’s one and Garcia then allegedly opened fire, grazing Nelson’s arm, and then shooting him in the back as he tried to open a locked front door. She also allegedly wounded the other woman.
Nelson said he didn’t see who shot Yockey.
However, the homeowner’s son claimed the men came to the door and asked for a phone charger. His roommate Reep talked with them through the window but didn’t want them to come inside. But the homeowner’s son let inside when they began pounded a door in the garage.
He claims Yockey attacked him and that Nelson and the other woman starting taking things from the garage. He said he saw Reep with a gun but did not see who shot Yockey in the face.
Richland escape
Six days later, police tracked Reep to a Richland home and surrounded it. But he opened the garage door and backed out in a car, hitting two patrol cars.
Since Reep wasn’t wanted for a violent crime, Washington state law didn’t allow officers to pursue him.
Investigatos say in court documents that Reep was armed with a 9 mm pistol.
Reep has five prior felony convictions preventing him from legally having a gun, according to court documents. Those include three convictions for illegal gun possession, having a stolen gun and taking a car without permission.