August 12, 2026

Man turns gun on himself after allegedly killing 85-year-old man

Churchill County sheriff's deputies said Douglas Mark Van Meter, 43, shot himself in the head outside his parents' Fallon home as officers approached him. He was taken to a Fallon hospital, where he died a short time later.

Deputies said they sought to question Van Meter in the shooting death earlier Friday of Willie Capucci in his South Taylor Street home. Capucci was found dead on a living-room couch with a gunshot wound to the head.

Deputies said Van Meter apparently went to Capucci's home, and shot both him and his dog at about 6:30 p.m. in an argument believed to have been over money.

During a subsequent investigation, deputies determined they needed to interview several people, including Van Meter.

But when they went to a Fallon supermarket to question him, Van Meter slipped out another door. Van Meter was an employee at the store.

Officers found him a few blocks away in the backyard of his parents' home with a gun in his hand. Officers asked him to put the gun down, but Van Meter then shot himself, deputies said.

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