Details From Rancho Tehama Shootings Come into Focus

We are finally learning details surrounding the seemingly random acts of violence that occurred in the small town of Rancho Tehama yesterday.  Naturally immediately after the incident(s), information was sketchy at best as police tried putting the pieces of complex crime scenes together.  All we really knew was that several people were killed and children at an elementary school were targeted - perhaps simply because he was driving by.  Yesterday, law enforcement officials stated that the believed this may have began with a "domestic dispute".  A neighbor of the man believed to be the gunman spoke to media yesterday and said there was an ongoing "neighborhood dispute" between he and the neighbor he identified only as "Kevin".  It was impossible to believe all this violence was the result of a neighborhood dispute but not much else had been reported.

Kevin Neal

What we now know is the shooter was 44 year old Kevin Janson Neal of Bobcat Lane.  We know many of the 911 calls were initiated from that area.  Neal killed 4 adults before opening fire at random on children at Corning Union Elementary School.  Thankfully none of the children or teachers were killed, however several children were injured badly enough to require air lifts out of the area. 

It appears Neal's initial target was indeed his wife who has not been publicly named by officials (to my knowledge).  The Sheriff's Department attempted to locate Neal's wife - even going as far to "ping" her cellphone.  Unfortunately everyones worse fears were realized when they searched the Neals' residence and found his wife deceased in the home. It appears Neal killed her the night before and cut a hole out of their floor in some crude attempt to hide the body.

We know early Tuesday morning he got into his car and went on a shooting spree.  Among the 4 other adults shot & killed, one of the deceased was a female neighbor he had been accused of attacking during an "ongoing dispute". It sounds like Mr. Neal had disputes with more than one neighbor.  Shortly after Tuesdays incident began, Neal shot and killed two more neighbors and stole a pickup truck and drove through the small town and fired at will.

We know Neal was armed with a semi-automatic rifle and pistol from the reports yesterday.  While driving through town, he ended up behind a Ford 250 pickup truck driven by a mother and her son.  He fired 8 rounds into the truck, seriously injuring both mother and son.  The woman was on her way to drop her son off to school.  She had a concealed weapon permit, but never had time to draw the weapon to defend herself and her son.  

Thankfully this was a small town, because by the time Neal arrived at the school in the stolen pickup the school was already on "lockdown".  That didn't deter Neal - he rammed the truck through the gates and began firing into the school.  As far as I know one child was shot in the foot and chest but is expected to recover.  If the school hadn't been heard about what was happening and wasn't  prepared or it could have been a lot worse.

After busting through the gates of the school, Neal reportedly calmly stepped out of the truck and began randomly shooting.  It doesn't appear he had any particular target(s) in mind - just your basic act of domestic terror.  After his attempt to kill innocent elementary school kids failed, Neal sought other targets and he found them.

Neal began following a couple driving down the street and deliberately hit them. As the couple exited the vehicle, he shot both of them.  The woman died but the man survived the shooting.  A good Samaritan who witnessed the accident and shooting pulled over to help; Neal took aim at him as well and shot at him however he was able to escape on foot before Neal stole his car.

Neal's crime spree wasn't over yet - he was in the process of pursuing his next target and attempted to ram that car and shoot into it when law enforcement finally caught up with him.  A gunfight ensued and finally it was over. Neal was shot dead by a sheriff's deputy.  What a story.  The thing that stands out to me out of all I just wrote is that we still don't know what the original dispute with his wife was that set this into motion.  His wife was believed to be his first victim so she can't contribute to the motive - however hopefully she told somebody in her life what was happening at home.  

Solely based on what has been reported, it seems that Neal was a hot headed time bomb ready to explode.  He had troubles with his wife, he was feuding with his neighbors. I'm willing to bet there's an employer out there who is breathing a sigh of relief that they weren't on his hit list.  Or perhaps he was a normal man who just lost it?