Calif. gunman was frustrated over feud with neighbors

Tehama County, Calif. -- Another lunatic with a gun went on a shooting rampage killing four people and wounding at least 10 others, including two children. This happened in Northern California Tuesday.

The shooter's mother, who only provided the Associated Press with her first name Anne, revealed that her son had been upset with an ongoing feud with his neighbors and that she posted bail for him in January after he was charged with stabbing one of them.

"I'm on a cliff and there's nowhere to go," his mother said he told her regarding the situation with the neighbor matter.

The day prior to the shooting of multiple "random" locations near Rancho Tehama Elementary School, the shooter called his mother saying "it's all over now."

While the police declined to identify the shooter, they did confirm that he was the same man charged with the January stabbing, a man named Kevin Neil.

The shooter tried to gain access at an elementary school to shoot children, because that's what cowardly scumbags do. The police described the shooting as a "bizarre and murderous rampage."

Tehama County Assistant Sheriff Phil Johnston said that one of the victims was the same woman the gunman had stabbed in January.

The school officials acted swiftly after hearing shots being fired about a quarter-mile away away, immediately putting the school in lockdown without waiting for police instructions.

Johnston said that it was "monumental" that school workers took such quick action as they did, because he believes they saved countless children's lives.

The gunman rammed his vehicle into a school fence and then walked onto the school grounds with a semi-automatic rifle while wearing a protective vest. 

When he couldn't gain access to a classroom, it's believed he became "frustrated" and headed back to his car, and started shooting at random people as he drove down the street.

As it turned out, the vest was as useful to the gunman as a screen door on a submarine because when he began to open fire, the police shot and killed him.

"This guy was bent on driving by residences and arbitrarily shooting at them," Johnston said. "This guy was on a killing rampage, he was driving up and down the street shooting at passerbys [sic], and uninvolved residences."

One woman, who doesn't know the gunman, was driving past him with her three kids. She was shot or hit with shrapnel from her bullet-riddled door, and one of the children received a non-life-threatening injury, according to police.

"This is an individual that armed himself I think with the motive of getting even with his neighbors, and when it went that far, he just went on a rampage," Johnston added, and also said that he didn't believe there is a connection to terrorism.

Law enforcement recovered a semi-automatic rifle and two handguns. There was another weapon in the shooter's vehicle.

It was noted that a restraining order exists against the shooter which, Johnston noted, would have limited his ability to possess firearms for a period of time, depending on the order.

Brian Flint told Record Searchlight newspaper after the incident that the shooter was his neighbor. "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." He also said the suspect stole his truck.

While it's fairly likely the left will use this incident to call for more gun control laws, the right will hopefully call for laws that already exist to be upheld.

Once someone gets a restraining order after a violent incident such as what happened in this case, perhaps a surprise visit to the homes of perpetrators, complete with a search warrant, will save lives.


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