On a Tuesday night in Reno, Nevada, a clandestine meeting in a parking lot on East Grove Street set the stage for a fatal encounter. Patrick McDaniel, a 31-year-old Caucasian male, arrived with a friend on February 6, 2018, with the intention of selling a cache of stolen goods. The merchandise was not ordinary; it consisted of various firearms, ammunition, and even explosive caps, all pilfered from a law enforcement agency in California.
The planned transaction, however, spiraled into violence, leaving one man dead and another facing a murder charge.
The man McDaniel was there to meet, Mike Kizer, allegedly turned on him during the illicit arms deal. Instead of a sale, the situation escalated, and Kizer is accused of shooting McDaniel multiple times. Following the shooting, Kizer reportedly fled the scene, not on foot, but in McDaniel's own white Honda Accord. Inside the vehicle remained the stolen arsenal that had been the purpose of their meeting. The friend who had accompanied McDaniel stayed with him at the scene and later cooperated with the ongoing investigation. Despite being rushed to a local hospital, Patrick McDaniel succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead.
The investigation quickly gained momentum as Reno Police detectives, in conjunction with the Regional Crime Suppression Unit, launched a search for the stolen vehicle and the suspect. The white Honda Accord was discovered abandoned the following morning. This discovery led investigators to a breakthrough, and by Thursday, they had located and arrested the 34-year-old Kizer in Sparks. A subsequent search of an apartment on Sutro Avenue early the next morning uncovered the stolen firearms and other items from the California law enforcement agency. With the suspect in custody and the stolen goods recovered, the authorities began to piece together the final moments of Patrick McDaniel's life, a life cut short in a transaction that promised profit but delivered only death.
