Man shoots mother in Stead standoff

An armed standoff with a man in Stead on Wednesday left his mother dead and required the bomb squad to clear a house of possible explosives.

The suspect, Edward Samuel Pundyk, has been arrested and charged with open murder with a deadly weapon for shooting his mother, 72-year-old Delphina Mederios. Pundyk, 54, was booked on the charge at the Washoe County Jail. He is being held without bail.

The Reno Police Department responded to a call of shots fired in the 9800 block of Meadow Star Drive. Eddie Franco, a neighbor of the man who fired shots, said he first saw the man arguing with himself around 3:30 p.m.

The man fired shots shortly after, Franco said.

Franco called police, who arrived around 4 p.m. after having trouble locating the house. The man fired four more shots before running into the backyard. Lt. William Rulla said officers set up a perimeter around the house and on the 11000 block of Rocky Mountain Drive. A helicopter from the Washoe County Sheriff's Office called to the scene located the frantic man in a yard. Officers called in backup, who surrounded the house from Meadow Star Drive and Rocky Mountain Street.

Rulla said when officers arrived they found Mederios dead in the yard.

Police evacuated homes in the area at around 7:45 p.m. as a precautionary measure by the bomb squad, Rulla said. Pedestrian and vehicle traffic were closed off earlier in the afternoon.

Officers called in the SWAT team, who flanked the home. A loud bang was heard around 5:45, after which officers dispersed from the Meadow Star Drive side of the home. Rulla said the sound likely came from the SWAT team who apprehended the shooter.

The bomb squad evacuated several houses in the area while they cleared Pundyk's home for possible booby-traps.

"Some devices are inside the house," he said. "We don’t know if they're active, inactive a threat or not, so we’re going to bring the bomb squad into the house."

Residents were allowed back into their homes Thursday morning.

Franco said the man, later identified as Pundyk, has a history of mental health issues and has lashed out before, but not to this extent.

"Not this bad," he said. "He’s gone off the deep end a little bit, but nothing like this before."

Seth A. Richardson covers breaking news for the Reno Gazette-Journal. Contact him at 775-788-6301, srichardson@rgj.com or on Twitter at @SethARichardson.