Since January 31, 2018, ghost guns required a serial number in the state. Jessie Sanders, 44, near where Kevin Janson Neal drove his truck into Rancho Tehama Elementary Schools fence. He spent most of two recent afternoons working in his yard, which has been partially subsumed by overgrown vegetation, childrens toys and assorted junk since the mass shooting. Gary Coronado has been a staff photographer for the Los Angeles Times since 2016. In reply to Jeff Gorder. (Tehama County Sheriff via AP) By the time 44-year-old Kevin Neal was finally stopped fatally shot by officers Neal had killed five people and injured 18. Woods Sr. said his son would have applied for the funding earlier, but the trauma including the fire pain of being shot and the first round of dental treatments only recently subsided enough for Woods Jr. to take that step. On Nov. 14, 2017, a shooter killed five people and wounded several others in the rural Northern California town of Rancho Tehama. Troy McFadyen was injured, and his wife Michelle McFadyen was killed. Connor Sheets is an investigative and enterprise reporter at the Los Angeles Times. It ripped his world, said Feitelberg, who moved her grandson out of Rancho Tehama Reserve after the shooting. As soon as he could, Sanders put in a call to Elliott to let him know they got Neal, not knowing his best friend was dead, killed by Neal. [13][14][15] Neal crashed the pickup truck through the front gates of the school. [1][37] Police said that, despite this, he illegally manufactured the guns he used in the shootings. Blinds are pulled, lights off, and the "open" flag is gone. When the couple inside the car got out and tried to run for safety, Neil shot them. Here's the things we look for: shell casings on the ground, something fresh that we could use, evidence that we could use to write a search warrant. ", "One of the teachers quoted, 'the students are the heroes.' Some media reported that police believe Neal went home after he left the school, and took off in yet another stolen vehicle. When they got out, Neal shot them, killing one. They were his first victims. This angered Sanders. [30], Five people were killed on the day of the shooting spree, including the perpetrator, who died by suicide after a confrontation with a police officer and a deputy sheriff. He fired repeatedly at the locked-down doors, windows and walls. Forty-three percent of the town's residents fall below the federal poverty level. More and more, its also the kind of place where some residents no longer feel safe, and are no longer surprised when they leave their homes to return to find them broken into and/or vandalized. It was Elliotts father who broke the news of his sons death to Sanders. No one else helps us, she said. Sanders said that he and Elliott were both threatened by Neal at various times, as were both of their young sons. [36], On January 31, 2017, Neal was arrested and charged with two felonies, and five misdemeanors, after stabbing neighbor Hailey Poland, assaulting her mother-in-law, and snatching a mobile phone away from them. [4] Major stores, social services, and medical careincluding a hospital emergency roomare in Red Bluff and Corning. The shooters wife was nowhere to be found. This time, however, Wythe noticed that the gunshot sounds were coming up the road, toward him. Neal then fired eight rounds into a Ford F-250 occupied by a woman and her son, who was headed to school. Kevin Neal. Bruehl said Neal had an AK-47, and he and Wythe were both wondering where the cops were. If you are a victim of domestic violence or know of someone who is a victim, there is help. Meanwhile, directly across the road from the schools gate through which Neal had just crashed, lived friends and neighbors Johnny Wythe and Uncle Chuck Bruehl. But they still have to rip all my teeth out, and then I have to do a bone graft.. Ferreira said he grabbed the boy and ran into the storage room. Francisco Cardenas was driving to the post office a few minutes from his house that morning when he was caught between deputies in hot pursuit and the shooter. [17] The handguns were not registered to him. Krystal Squires, 15, left, and sister Angalene Laurence, 12, were students at Rancho Tehama Elementary. Neal, 44, had been out on bail after being charged with stabbing a neighbor when he went on a 45-minute shooting spree Tuesday in the rural community of Rancho Tehama Reserve, about 130 miles . The injured victims were transported to several area clinics and hospitals. Sanders said that the first thought that went through his mind was that if the cops had done their job in dealing with Neal following several violent episodes in the past, he wouldnt be there with guns trying to kill children. In this little-visited slice of Northern California, a mass shooting that occurred nearly five years ago has in some cases left behind battered people who have yet to reckon with its multilayered effects. Cardenas says he's exploring his legal options. He manufactured the rifle and possessed the handguns in violation of that restraining order. And then that man can even threaten to kill his neighbors, and eventually make good on his threats, and then some. Kevin Janson Neal mugshot. Sandra Wells's 5-year-old daughter is happily back at school. One of Neal's neighbors later claimed that Neal was targeting the seven-year-old son of the neighbor he killed earlier. They declined to speak on the record citing potential legal action. Every bullet missed but the one that grazed his arm. He was arrested and jailed in Tehama County, but Neal made a $160,000 bail and was freed, allowing him to return . That just didn't happen for us in this case," he says. Also in that classroom was Elliotts young son. Sanders said he tried to intervene and stop Neal, but that Neals wife actually got upset with Sanders and told him to mind his own business. Definitely the biggest thing, he said, is wondering how theyre going to look at their dad when theyre older., Now 12 years old, Gage moved with Feitelberg to her and her husbands home in Sacramento immediately after the shooting. On one level, it looks like all is mostly back to normal in the small, rural community of Rancho Tehama in Northern California. So I didnt get a picture of the bullet hole in the roof of Saras car. Barely a week earlier, a shooter killed 25 people and an unborn child and injured 22 others at a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas. Lobdell shuns talk of her heroism that day in favor of words like "training" and "instinct. He heard his daughters teacher, Miss Nelson, yelling loudly for all the kids to get inside NOW! By then it was about 7:58 to 7:59 a.m. Ferreira said that when secretary Sara heard the shots she immediately put the school on lockdown. RANCHO TEHAMA RESERVE, Calif. But just below the surface it's clear people here are still grappling with the aftermath of a local man's murderous rampage nearly three months ago that killed five and wounded 12 others. The 35-year-old tree trimmer is now unemployed and, for now, unable to work because of his wounds. Police later shot and killed him. "[9], The shootings renewed attention on the legality and control of ghost guns, such as the semi-automatic rifle used in this incident. Theyve long since left, and Sanders said he has yet to receive any treatment for his anxiety, depression and likely PTSD. "On every occasion we responded, asking 'did you actually see him firing a gun?' I'm scared Lol. He praised his staff. [11] In total, deputies were called to Neal's Bobcat Lane home 21 times for various reasons in 2016 and 2017. But Wells says her kindergartner is not really the same since she had to run and crouch in fear as the crackle of gunfire echoed. He was bleeding out. He has not, and he will not, talk about his father. Contact 1-800-799- Safe (7233); Alternative to Violence Red Bluff 530-528-0226; One Safe Place Redding 530-244-0188; Shingletown 530-474-1910; Catalyst in Chico, 530-343-7711, or Oroville 530-532-6427. The shooting in Rancho Tehama simply couldnt compete. Asked about Sanders actions that morning, Rancho Tehama residents speak of his selflessness, bravery and kindness. Police Find Body Of Tehama County Gunman's Wife, Making His Death Toll 5. For those who were shot, it paid for medical bills. What Im reporting here today is what I saw and heard during my visit. I was really scared because I did not know what was happening to Angalene, she said. Sanders said he ran from his moms house over to the scene to see what had happened. Officers grabbed Sanders and made him take off his shirt, shoes and socks. "[The board] promised lots and lots of good stuff, but it turns out they are not really covering all those things and no real help coming from them," he says. On his way through the town, he shot a woman . Time stopped in November 2017 for many who were affected by Neals bloody rampage, which left behind seven separate crime scenes and ended when he turned one of his guns on himself. Ferreira did say that when Miss Nelson called 911, she got a busy signal. [12], At the Rancho Tehama Elementary School, Sarah Lobdell, the school's secretary, heard the gunfire near the school and quickly ordered the school to go on lockdown. Two women embrace outside Rancho Tehama Elementary School, where a gunman opened fire Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2017, in Corning, Calif. [10] He had previously attempted to report his neighbors to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. A collection of painted stones left at the memorial. As Neal ran to his truck, still firing at Sanders, Sanders said he figured Neal was trying to get to his truck so he could run Sanders over. He moved out of town, several hours away and into his parent's house with his wife and son. I did get some clarification on the tragedy, but not on all the victims. After a couple of more tries Nelson finally got through and was told 911 was getting a lot of calls. The New York Post reports the following day, he donned a ballistic vest, grabbed a semiautomatic rifle and two handguns and went on a 45-minute rampage across Rancho Tehama Reserve. And then I have to do implants. November 15, 2017 / 7:10 AM She told how, as she drove up the road toward home, she saw her brother Sanders walking along the road. Hes lived for several years now in a dilapidated mobile home by the airstrip. Then I started walking around the area taking pictures as that location is the entrance to the small community. Jessie Sanders was grazed by one of Kevin Neals bullets. I went to my car, got my camera, and was distracted by the town flag I saw flying at half staff across the road. Neal was chasing and firing at another car when two police officers spotted him. He was named locally as 43-year-old Kevin Neal. [5] In addition, seven children suffered injuries from shattered glass. "I do believe the sheriff's department dropped the ball when they let this guy (gunman Kevin Neal) live out here with a lot of guns," says local realtor Vern Wilson, who has lived in Rancho Tehama for more than two decades.