Carlos Jose Juan Borland was a 25-year-old Nevada Highway Patrol trooper on duty the evening of November 30, 1993, when he stopped a red Chevrolet Blazer on Interstate 80 just east of Lovelock after a report of a gas skip. Trooper Borland was working a solo swing shift and radioed at 8:54 p.m. that he was initiating a traffic stop.

As he approached the vehicle, the driver, later identified as Michael Hampton Sonner, fired a single shot from a .38 caliber revolver, striking Borland in the head. A passing truck driver witnessed the shooting and used Trooper Borland’s radio to summon help. Borland was taken to Washoe Medical Center in Reno and died of his wound in the early hours of December 1, 1993.

Sonner fled the scene in the stolen Blazer but was located the next day in Dixie Valley and taken into custody after a brief standoff. The shooting prompted a multi-agency manhunt that included SWAT teams, police dogs, and helicopters equipped with heat-sensing technology.

If anyone has information about Trooper Borland’s final shift or saw the Blazer that night, please come forward.