California Tehama Mass Killer Made Own Guns, stole Pickup, Opposed Hitler

Sheriff Phil Johnson refuses to use the shooters name. I will follow the sheriff’s lead, and not give him the literary immortality he craved with his last evil action.  From redding.com:

“These firearms were manufactured illegally, we believe, by him at his home,” Johnston said Wednesday. “So they (the guns) were obtained in an illegal manner, not through a legal process. They are not registered.”

In addition to the two rifles sheriff’s deputies found during the shooting investigation, Johnston said Neal also had two handguns registered to someone else.

(snip)

“The more restrictive that the laws become for people to purchase (guns), we’re going to see those criminal elements build their own. That’s what they do,” he said.

Deputies had been attempting to catch the perpetrator because of numerous complaints prior to the mass murder. They had visited his home more than once, and had set up surveillance outside his home. Their efforts were unsuccessful.  He started the rampage by murdering his wife. From mrt.com:

Tehama County Assistant Sheriff Phil Johnston said Wednesday that police went to Neal’s home several times for reports that he was shooting guns, but they never saw him with the weapons.

During the rampage, Jessie Sanders, a neighbor, distracted the murderer at the school by yelling at him and challenging him to shoot “over here”. Sanders was shot at and wounded when a bullet grazed his right forearm.

Sanders revealed a peculiar comment the murderer had made much earlier, when he first met him. Sanders said the murderer made this statement, then walked away. From ktvu.com:

“Hey, why don’t you stop Hitler?”

It is at 44 seconds into the video clip from ktvu.com. (The video is no longer available at the link). The Hitler statement occurred moments before this screenshot.

Sanders said that the murderer became progressively strange. It is not known if the murderer had any political associations or views.  The Sacbee.com recorded an interview of Jessie Sanders took place on Bobcat Lane on 15 November, the day after the shooting:

Another victim was Jessie Sanders, who said Wednesday that he was at the school when the shooter opened fire.

Sanders said he yelled at the gunman to shoot at him instead of the classrooms, and Neal turned and fired, grazing Sanders’ right forearm. “That man smiled at me and started shooting at me,” Sanders said. “I got shot telling that guy to stop shooting at kids, shoot at me.

“He missed me with a lot of bullets, but one of them got me.”

Sanders estimated that the gunman fired at least 60 rounds at the school.

“I don’t know how come I didn’t get shot with more, but it’s better my life than all those kids he was shooting at,” Sanders said. “Who does that to women and children?”

Sanders was interviewed Wednesday on Bobcat Lane, where he was passing by Neal’s home with Hailey Suzanne Poland, who Neal had stabbed in the confrontation in January as she was out walking the neighborhood with Diana Lee Steel.

The Hitler comment was likely edited out for brevity. The shooter clearly had mental problems. This may have been another sign of his illness.

©2017 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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