GUNMAN KILLS 4, SELF

CARSON CITY, Nev.

- A gunman wielding an AK-47 opened fire on a table of uniformed National Guard members at an IHOP restaurant yesterday in an outburst of violence that killed four people, wounded eight others and put Nevada's capital city on high alert as the shooter unloaded his assault rifle in a bustling business district.

The shooter's motive was unclear, but family members said he had mental issues. He had never been in the military and had no known affiliation with anyone inside the restaurant.

Five Nevada National Guard troops sitting together at the back of the restaurant were shot - two of them fatally. Another woman was also killed, and the gunman, Eduardo Sencion, 32, of Carson City, shot himself in the head and died at a hospital.

Witnesses and authorities described a frantic scene in which the shooter pulled into the large complex of retail stores and shops just before 9 a.m. in a blue minivan with a yellow "Support Our Troops" sticker on the back. He got out and immediately shot a person on a motorcycle, a witness said.

Ralph Swagler, who owns a nearby BBQ grill, said that he grabbed his own weapon but that it was too late to stop Sencion, who charged into the IHOP through the front doors.

"I wish I had shot at him but he was going in the IHOP," said Swagler. "But when he came at me, when somebody is pointing an automatic weapon at you - you can't believe the firepower, the kind of rounds coming out of that weapon."

The gunman went all the way to the back of the restaurant and opened fire, Carson City Sheriff Kenny Furlong said.

When he left, he got back in his vehicle, drove around in circles and shot into the nearby businesses, shattering the windows of a barbecue restaurant and an H&R Block and a casino across the street.

Officers arrived minutes later and found Sencion and the person who was on the motorcycle wounded and lying in the parking lot. The names of the victims, including two male Guard members who were killed, were not immediately released.

Sencion was born in Mexico and had a valid U.S. passport. In interviews with investigators after the shooting, his family raised concerns about his mental health, Furlong said. Sencion worked at his family's business in South Lake Tahoe and had no criminal history.