An Argument Concluded Without Appeal

On a Friday evening in Reno, where the lights are for entertainment and not instruction, a story came to a sudden and permanent close along East 4th Street.

Police arrived near Lake Street at about 8:30 p.m. to find him suffering from a gunshot wound, an ailment that rarely improves with time. Officers and medics applied the usual remedies, earnest and immediate, but the matter had already passed beyond negotiation. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

What preceded the gunfire remains under investigation, which is to say the city is left to wonder what quarrel grew so large it required such a final punctuation. His name will get released once the family’s told, a courtesy that stands in quiet contrast to the violence that made it necessary.

Authorities invite the public to assist, offering phone numbers and anonymity, hoping that someone, somewhere, knows how the evening took its turn. Until then, East 4th Street resumes its ordinary business, carrying on as places do, though now with one fewer story and no ending worth admiring.