CA Shooter Kevin Neal was out on bail for stabbing neighbor at the time of mass shooting

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Sometimes our justice system seems to fail us miserably.  As we are discovering more information about mass shooter Kevin Neal, it has been reported that at the time of the shooting he was out on $160,000 bail for allegedly stabbing a neighbor.  Think this is part of that "neighborhood feud" we've been hearing about?  Even more outrageous is that Neal was supposed to be prohibited from owning guns.  Not that any court ruling or piece of paper is going to stop someone determined to get their hands on a gun or guns.

Earlier this year Neal was ordered to give up his weapons as part of a protective order filed on behalf of two female neighbors he had confrontations with in January.  District Attorney Gregg Cohen was prosecuting him on several charges related to the January incident.  This was a violent confrontation with Neal allegedly shooting at the female neighbors and stabbing one of thembefore holding them hostage!  I'm at a loss at how the bail amount was set at $160,000.  Seems it should have been made sufficient to see he remained in jail until trial.  But it wasn't - and he didn't.  Instead, he exacted revenge on the people he felt slighted by.  I suppose it depends on what exactly he was charged with, but even aggravated assault and kidnapping should have had a much higher bail amount.  The judge had to know Mr. Neal lived near his victims - and any no contact order wasn't going to have any effect on his desire for retribution towards those women.

I'm not sure of the police procedure for a defendant to "surrender" their firearms - what happened with Neal's guns? It's entirely possible he did surrender them because the guns found after he was killed were not registered to him.  According to law enforcement officials the weapons had been modified.  This is another huge problem the gun manufacturers must take seriously.  They should put more research and development dollars into making sure their guns are not easily modified.  I don't know a lot about guns, but there are a lot of brilliant people out there who I'm certain could at least make it more challenging to modify.

There are so many troubling things about this story.  It seems the justice system in our country generally works, but not for the wild card madman who is hell bent on taking people down.  The only real way for this to have been prevented would have been to make his bail high enough to where he would have remained there until trial.  Letting him out was a mistake, even though he was entitled to some type of bail. Let's face it, the bail amount seems to be the biggest blunder here.  Had it been a higher amount, cash only type of thing maybe those people would still be alive today.  That may not be fair of me to say, but it's what I'm thinking.

Newsweek called Neal "another angry white man with a record of violence against women".  That sums it up.  Newsweek is also reporting that in addition to the January incident with the two neighbors, Neal was arrested in February for assault with a deadly weapon, battery, crimes against the elderly or dependent adult and for "discharging his firearm with gross negligence".  Wait, wasn't he supposed to have surrendered his firearms under the January protective order?  That second "incident" should have been grounds to revoke his bail shouldn't it have? 

How many times have you heard about a woman who was killed after getting a protective order?  It's well known that it's the most dangerous time for the victim once the order has been granted.  For some people, that just lights their fuse.  Seems Neal's fuse was lit and finally blew.

Kevin Neal