A bizarre shooting spree that occurred across seven different locations in Lake County Monday morning ended with the arrest of one man, and resulting in the deaths of two people, and two others being wounded.
The events unfolded over the course of 30 minutes, and as in the case of the Las Vegas shooting, the sole suspect, 61-year-old Alan Ashmore is being described as a "quiet, nice guy" by a local resident who knew him, according to KCRA.
Ashmore allegedly began the spree just after 11:20 a.m. in what has been reported to be his own neighborhood, Clearlake Oakes, at the southeastern end of Clear Lake, shooting "into several residences in the 13000 block of Anchor Village," as KTVU reports, and killing two men and injuring one woman on the block. Per KCRA, one man was found dead in his home, another was killed sitting in his car, and the woman was shot in the foot.
Lake County Sheriff Brian Martin tells the Associated Press, "We don't know whether the shootings were all targeted, if they were random or if they were a combination."
A fourth person, a CHP officer, was shot in his body armor as he responded to the scene in Clearlake Oakes, and he escaped with non-life-threatening injuries.
Ashmore then allegedly drove to a Chevron station nearby, where surveillance video you can see below shows a man in a blue t-shirt angrily stomping into a convenience store carrying a long-barreled rifle. You see him bump into a man, a vendor visiting the store, according to KCRA, and shortly after the man walks out of the store a shot is fired through the store window. The footage then shows the man in blue walk to a refrigerator case, pull out a 20-ounce bottle of soda, and walk out.
Police investigating another crime scene--Chevron on Hwy 20 & Keys Blvd.--linked to deadly Lake County shooting pic.twitter.com/TXHJQw5SLe
— Kathy Park (@KCRAKathy) October 23, 2017
Ashmore allegedly took a second shot at the vendor outside the store, and the man, who has a permit to carry a concealed weapon, shot at Ashmore with a gun he had in his vehicle.
A witness, Pat Kelly, 52, of Clearlake Oaks, told the Chronicle, "Oh, there was 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."
Next, according to the sheriff's department, Ashmore proceeded on to a second gas station a mile away, the Power Market-Chevron on Hwy. 20, near Foothill Boulevard, where he stopped and allegedly fired more shots, according to KTVU. KCRA says it's unclear whether shots were fired, but a clerk at the store describes "literally looking down the barrel of a gun" after Ashmore stormed in and demanded a lighter after stealing cigarettes from a shelf.
A nearby winery then reported someone there had been shot at, and it's here that Ashmore's alleged spree came to an end. On High Valley Road, near Brassfield Estate Winery, some officers managed to locate Ashmore's vehicle and begin pursuit, while "Other responding deputies and officers from Lakeport Police Department and CHP set up a road block," says KTVU. "When Ashmore encountered the roadblock, he surrendered without incident."
The Santa Rosa Press Democrat reports that Ashmore had multiple firearms in his car at the time of his arrest.
Ashmore is expected to face multiple charges which have not yet been announced, and is being booked into a Lake County jail.