Marc Hull
Sun Coverage
- Man killed by police in Walmart shootout identified (Sept. 12, 2011)
- Walmart shooting leaves gunman dead, officer injured (Sept. 9, 2011)
After seeing the man she was with killed by Metro Police during a September shootout in a Las Vegas Walmart store — and then spending almost four months in jail — Carrie Reed will be released from custody sometime today.
Reed, 28, was granted three years of probation this morning for her part in the Sept. 9 incident at Walmart, where 25-year-old Marc Hull was killed while exchanging gunfire with police after getting caught trying to buy more than $4,000 worth of merchandise with a dead man’s credit card.
Reed's attorney negotiated with prosecutors, and she pleaded guilty at her arraignment on Oct. 18 to one felony count of burglary and one gross misdemeanor count of conspiracy to commit the crime of obtaining and using personal identification information of another.
The incident happened about 4:30 a.m. at the Walmart Supercenter at 3615 S. Rainbow Blvd., near Spring Mountain Road. Police said they received reports of a man and woman trying to use a fraudulent debit or credit card to purchase a large amount of items.
When officers tried to take Hull into custody, police said Hull began firing, striking Officer Michael Ramirez, 36, multiple times in his bulletproof vest and left arm. Police returned fire at Hull, who later died from his injuries. Ramirez has since recovered from his injuries.
“I would just like to apologize for what happened that day,” Reed told Judge Michael Villani during a hearing in Clark County District Court. Reed said she was “surprised” at how the events unfolded.
Reed’s attorney, Michael Gowdey, elaborated.
“The guy she was with invited her to go shopping,” Gowdey said. “He had a stolen credit card. And when police found out about this, the gentleman actually pulled out a gun and took a shot at the police and he was subsequently killed. She was as shocked as anybody else at what happened and went diving for cover.
“She has been honest throughout the entire process here. She accepted responsibility in the very early stages of the proceedings. I hope that the court will see fit to grant her one shot at probation.”
Gowdey urged the judge to follow the recommendation of the state’s parole and probation division, which recommended probation, although Reed has had one other felony conviction from 2004.
“She was caught by surprise as much as anybody else, judge,” Gowdey said. “She had no idea that the gentleman, number one, had any sort of tendencies in this way, and, number two, was carrying a gun at the time, and, number three, would ever be stupid enough to pull out a gun on anybody, let alone a police officer, and take a shot at him.”
Judge Villani told Reed that normally she would be going to prison because, under the law, she was just as liable as Hull was for the burglary.
Villani sentenced her to 48 months in state prison, but suspended that sentence and granted her three years of probation. He also told her that part of her probation was if she didn’t get a job, she would have to serve 20 hours of community service each month during that period.
“These are very serious charges,” Villani told her. He said if she didn’t meet the conditions of her probation, he would not hesitate to revoke it.
He gave her credit for serving 118 days in the Clark County Detention Center.
After the sentencing, Gowdey said outside the courtroom “she got a very good deal. ... All bets would have pointed towards prison for her. But she got a very favorable negotiations and Judge Villani gave her one chance on probation. ”
According to the arrest report, Reed and Hull allegedly handed a cashier in the electronics section of the store a credit card in the name of Albert Webster, who police later discovered had died in 2000. Walmart’s system rejected the transaction because the amount — about $4,075 — was too high.
Reed allegedly admitted to knowing the card didn’t belong to Hull and that it was possibly fraudulent, police said.
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