Nevada carjacker was on probation for weapons charge

RENO - A 22-year-old carjacker who stole a Nevada state trooper's cruiser then fatally shot himself in the chest with the patrolman's shotgun was a felon on probation in Florida.

Investigators confirmed Wednesday that Devin Peterson of Jacksonville, Fla., appears to have died from a single, self-inflicted gunshot wound after carjacking a second vehicle and leading police on a chase Monday on Interstate 80 east of Reno.

Florida Department of Corrections records show he was convicted of a felony gun charge in April 2011 and was sentenced to three years of probation.

Peterson fled after he and three other Jacksonville residents were pulled over and state troopers searched their SUV for drugs, about five miles east of Reno.

The others were being held Wednesday in the Washoe County Jail on drug and conspiracy charges on $150,000 bail each.

On Wednesday, investigators corrected erroneous reports by the Nevada Highway Patrol that he shot himself multiple times after he rolled his second getaway car about 30 miles east of Reno, near Fernley.

Lyon County Sheriff's Lt. J.L. Pattison said the coroner's report is not official yet, but it's clear there was only one gunshot wound.

"Unofficially, it is self-inflicted," Pattison told The Associated Press.

"There is only one shot. A shotgun is pretty effective."