Judge orders evaluation for man accused of shooting, injuring family in their car

The man accused of injuring several members of a family after firing two rounds into their vehicle and then ramming it with his SUV will undergo an evaluation to see if he’s fit to stand trail, before returning to court in February.

District Court Judge Robert Lane on Monday ordered a competency check for Benjamin Talbot, 30, who reportedly told officials he was on methamphetamine and hadn’t slept for about five days when he opened fire on the family’s vehicle while they were driving on Pahrump’s southside in early November.

Nye County deputies were dispatched to the intersection of South Indian Reservation Road and Turner Boulevard on Nov. 3 after receiving reports that someone had shot into a family’s car, hitting a 68-year-old man five times in the neck and back. Three other occupants were in the car, according to NCSO reports, including a 9-year-old who sustained shrapnel wounds to his face; a 13-year-old who received shrapnel wounds to his right forearm; and a 68-year-old woman who sustained shrapnel wounds to her right eye and the back of her head. All are expected to recover.

Talbot fled in his SUV after shooting the family, according to reports from the Nye County Sheriff’s Office, and allegedly threw two loaded shotguns out of his vehicle before deputies stopped and detained him. Narcotics were recovered from his SUV, according to NCSO reports.

Talbot is charged with one count of owning or possessing a gun by a prohibited person, four counts of attempted murder with a deadly weapon, five counts of battery with a deadly weapon and one count of discharging a firearm into a vehicle.

He also faces two counts of child abuse and two counts of elder abuse.

Talbot remains in the Nye County Detention Center. Bail is set at $355,000.

Contact Editor Brent Schanding at bschanding@pvtimes.com