Five killed, 10 hospitalized in Rancho Tehama shooting

Record Spotlight – by Jim Schultz

Five people are dead, including the suspect, in a mass shooting at and around a school some 15 miles southwest of Red Bluff, where at least another 10 people have been hospitalized — some of them children.

Tehama County Undersheriff Phil Johnston confirmed two children were also shot and wounded, but said children were not among the dead.

“It’s a very sad day for us in Tehama County,” said a deputy, who was visibly shaken. 

The gunman, who still hasn’t been identified, shot both inside and outside Rancho Tehama Elementary School, Johnston said.

Tehama County Superintendent of Schools Rich DuVarney there were no student or staff fatalities at the school.

Johnston at a 1 p.m. press conference said one child was shot at the school and taken to a hospital. A second child was in a car with his mother when the gunman opened fire. The child’s wound was not life-threatening, but the mother’s injuries are life-threatening, he said.

The 10 shooting victims were taken to various hospitals around the North State: Three to Mercy Medical Center in Redding, two to St. Elizabeth Community Hospital in Red Bluff and five — three of whom have been treated and released — to Enloe Medical Center in Chico, employees at those hospitals said. One of those patients has since been transferred to UC Davis Medical Center, a spokesperson there said.

It was not immediately clear whether more victims had been hospitalized.

The rampage all started shortly after 8 a.m. on Bobcat Lane and Fawn Lane in Rancho Tehama Reserve. The gunman reportedly stole two different vehicles and opened fire at seven different sites.

It ended in a shootout with two sheriff’s deputies. The officers, who were not injured, found the gunman dead inside a car.

At the scene, they recovered a semiautomatic rifle and two handguns.

There were at least 100 law enforcement officers on site processing seven or more crime scenes. The FBI also “is sending some teams up to assist at the request of Tehama County authorities,” said Jason Wandel, chief division counsel at the FBI’s Sacramento field office.

“Multiple shots were fired in Rancho Tehama. That evolved into multiple victims and multiple shots at the school,” the deputy said. “I am told the suspected shooter is deceased from law enforcement bullets.”

The scene described

It’s still unclear what the shooter’s motive was, but officials at the press conference said there was a history of neighborhood issues with the gunman.

The identity of the shooter is not yet known. But Johnston said the suspect had been involved in a domestic violence situation on Monday. A few months earlier, he was involved in a stabbing, Johnston said.

Rancho Tehama resident Salvador Tello said he was taking his three children to Rancho Tehama Elementary School when the gunman fired at a truck in front of him.

He said he saw bullets hit the truck in front of him, so he made his children get down and put his truck in reverse.

Tello said that, as he left, he saw a woman lying dead in the street with her husband next to her, apparently wounded.

Jose Garcia, who owns the La Fortuna Market, about a half-mile from the school, also said he heard “a lot of shooting” near the school shortly after 8 a.m.

Children among the gunshot victims

A deputy said other deputies had escorted a busload of children from the school to the Rancho Tehama Association.

Rosie DeOliveira, administrative assistant at the association, said that deputies instructed the community to “shelter in place,” stay indoors and stay low.

“Our doors are locked,” she said to the Record Searchlight Tuesday morning.

Earlier, an official at the Corning Elementary School District confirmed the school is on lockdown. The nearby Rancho Tehama Airport is also on lockdown.

A helicopter medical crew reported they were transporting a 6-year-old victim to Mercy Medical Center in Redding. The child had two gunshot wounds, according to emergency scanner traffic.

A second child also was reported to have been shot in the right leg, according to emergency dispatch reports.

A 30-year-old man was also being taken to the hospital with a gunshot wound to the right thigh, according to emergency dispatch reports.

It isn’t the first time the school had a gun scare.

In December 2015, a then-43-year-old woman was arrested after a school employee called law enforcement because she allegedly was walking around with a sawed-off shotgun. The woman also was arrested, in part, because deputies said they found a stolen pickup in her yard.

The scene described

It’s still unclear what the shooter’s motive was.

Initial reports said somebody was barricaded in a structure and there were multiple victims, including one who was dead.

Rancho Tehama resident Salvador Tello said he was taking his three children to school when the gunman fired at a truck in front of him.

He said he saw bullets hit the truck in front of him, so he made his children get down and put his truck in reverse.

Tello said that, as he left, he saw a woman lying dead in the street with her husband next to her, apparently wounded.

Jose Garcia, who owns the La Fortuna Market, about a half-mile from the school, also said he heard “a lot of shooting” near the school shortly after 8 a.m.

Record Searchlight reporters are at the scene.

Living next to alleged gunman was ‘hell’

The Rancho Tehama Reserve — a subdivision home to about 1,485 people — is described on its website as a “quiet private country community” located 12 miles west of Interstate 5 between Red Bluff and Corning. The community is a place “where people are friendly and the pace is relaxed,” the website reads.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, it was 86.3 percent white in 2010 and had a poverty rate of 43 percent.

Resident Brian Flint said he got a call in the morning that his roommate was injured and that his truck had been stolen. It turned out his neighbor was the gunman, Flint said.

“The crazy thing is that the neighbor has been shooting a lot of bullets lately, hundreds of rounds, large magazines,” Flint said. “We made it aware that this guy is crazy and he’s been threatening us.”

Living near the gunman was “hell,” Flint said, and the man was a known felon who often harassed him and his neighbors.

Katrina Gierman, who lives near the elementary school, said she heard gunshots when she went outside.

“I have not left my house because I am with my newborn son,” Gierman said. “Very scary moment.”

“I have the right to bear arms, and I will protect my son if I have to,” she said.

Joseph Raven was doing tile work with a co-worker at a home in Rancho Tehama when the shooting started.

“We heard the bullets fly right next to our ears,” Raven said. That’s when Raven said, “We need to get inside. … There were screams. A female screaming. A male screaming. There here helicopters all over the place.”

Politicians react to ‘senseless violence’

Politicians started weighing in on the shooting Tuesday, including Vice President Mike Pence.

“Saddened to hear of the shooting in N. California, the loss of life & injuries, including innocent children,” Pence wrote on Twitter. “We commend the effort of courageous law enforcement. We’ll continue to monitor the situation & provide federal support, as we pray for comfort & healing for all impacted.”

Meanwhile, Gov. Jerry Brown said in a statement on his website that he was “saddened to hear about today’s violence in Tehama County, which shockingly involved schoolchildren.”

“We offer our condolences to the families who lost loved ones and unite with all Californians in grief,” the statement reads.

California Senator Jim Nielsen, who oversees the area of the shooting, said in a statement that his “heart goes out to the victims and loved ones affected by Tuesday morning’s horrific shooting in Rancho Tehama,” calling the incident “senseless violence.”

“We … will be praying for the speedy recovery of those injured and for the emotional peace for those affected,” the statement reads. “We lift up in prayer those killed and wounded, their families and loved ones, and the first responders and others who put their lives on the line to protect and save innocent lives.”

U.S. Rep. Doug LaMalfa, whose district also includes Rancho Tehama, wrote on Facebook that people should “pray for the ugly situation in Rancho Tehama, west of Corning as a shooting this morning has several victims with the shooter already put down too.”

Other reactions:

• California Assemblyman Brian Dahle, who wrote on Twitter that his “prayers are with the innocent victims, their families, and those who are hospitalized from the Tehama Shootings.” “Let our Northern California community come together as one for those affected in this horrible time,” Dahle wrote, using the hashtag #TehamaStrong.

• Candidates for governor, including current California Treasurer John Chiang, who said on Twitter there’s “nothing more horrifying than people, especially children, dying from a gun shooting because this can and should be prevented.” “While we grieve today for the innocent victims, tomorrow we will honor them by  working even harder at making CA a safer place for all,” Chiang wrote.
• Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom — who’s challenging Chiang for the governor spot — saying on Twitter the shooting “epidemic has stolen too many lives. We need immediate action to help put an end to this nightmare.”
• Former California Attorney General and current U.S. Senator Kamala Harris, who said  on Twitter that she was “heartbroken” about the shooting and “closely monitoring the situation.” “Grateful to the officers and first responders on the scene,” she tweeted.
• Rep. John Garamendi, who said on Twitter he was “very saddened to hear about the shooting in Rancho Tehama. I’m paying close attention to developments as they become known.”

Resident Casey Burnett said gunman was driving around and shooting randomly from his car. pic.twitter.com/eZUdcaj1f0

— Jim Schultz (@JimSchultz_RS) November 14, 2017

http://www.redding.com/story/news/local/2017/11/14/reports-shooting-rancho-tehama/862125001/