California Shooter Caught on Camera in Deadly Rampage
California police have arrested a 61-year-old man who allegedly went on a shooting rampage in a small lakeside town, killing two men and injuring two others, including a police officer.
Authorities are yet to determine a motive for the shooting spree, allegedly carried out by Alan Ashmore, a resident of Clearlake Oaks—a small community of over 2,000 in northern California, the AP reported.
The attack began shortly before 11:30 a.m. on Monday, when Ashmore shot at several homes and a car, according to authorities, before killing a man in his house and another as he sat in his car. He is also said to have shot a woman in the foot and then fired on a California Highway Patrol officer.
Ashmore then went to a Chevron gas station where he shot at but missed a vendor. Surveillance footage from the gas station obtained by KCRA Channel 3 Sacramento appears to show Ashmore getting out of a white sports utility vehicle and entering the gas station’s convenience store. He appears to shoot at a man and then grabs a bottle of soda from the store’s refrigerator.
He again fired at the vendor, who was licensed to carry a weapon and returned fire, striking Ashmore’s vehicle.
Pat Kelly, a 52-year-old resident of Clearlake Oaks who was at the gas station when Ashmore arrived, told the San Francisco Chronicle that there were “eight to 10 or a dozen gunshots in rapid succession.”
“There was another guy parked behind me. He was hiding behind his gas pump, and I was hiding behind my gas pump,” said Kelly.
Ashmore then drove to another gas station where he stole cigarettes and demanded a lighter from the clerk at gunpoint. Ashmore also shot at workers at a winery and was chased by police before surrendering at a roadblock, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
Lake County Sheriff Brian Martin said that Ashmore may also have started a small fire when fleeing police. “We don’t know whether the shootings were all targeted, if they were random or if they were a combination,” said Martin.
“I think he was targeting almost everybody, everybody he had a grudge with, and even random citizens,” Lake County District Attorney Don Anderson told CBS Sacramento.
Police found several weapons in Ashmore’s vehicle. He was booked into the Lake County Jail on two counts of homicide and multiple counts of assault with a firearm.
Local residents were perplexed as to why Ashmore would have gone on such a rampage. “Quiet, nice guy. I just can’t figure out why he would do that,” a resident, Ron Ridley Sr., told KCRA 3.
Sheriff Martin said that Ashmore was known around town and had spent some time in prison.
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