Cases have been cleared against four separate Redding residents who used guns in self defense, according to the Shasta County District Attorney’s Office. D.A. Stephanie Bridgett says it was a thorough and meticulous process that determined no charges should be filed against any of the shooters. They were all in RPD jurisdiction.
45-year-old John Scott Souza, also known as John Larry Parks, was shot to death at the Churn Creek Road/Hartnell Avenue intersection on the night of February 15th. 27-year-old Michael Lake was driving westbound on Hartnell and was going to make an illegal left turn into the Circle K parking lot but he was blocked by Souza, who was walking his bicycle across the street there. Lake threw his hands in the air to express his frustration and continued rolling up to the intersection in the turn lane, where he had a red light. Souza was also upset and he approached the driver’s side of Lake’s Geo Tracker and punched the side window. The glass remained intact but a moment later Lake shot Souza through the window. He later told police that he would have simply driven away but his car stalled. He claimed that Souza had reached into his waistband with his left hand while punching the window with his right hand. Assuming Souza was going to pull out a gun, Lake shot him. Souza was, in fact, unarmed. Lake had a permit to carry a concealed weapon. The entire confrontation lasted about 7 seconds.
The second shooting in question happened on February 19th, on a Sunday afternoon at a home on Woodburry Drive in east Redding. 29-year-old Joshua Horak and his girlfriend Salena Valdez, who have a child together, had come from their home in Tacoma, Washington for the weekend to visit Valdez’s grandparents. As the weekend progressed, Horak apparently became more and more verbally and physically aggressive toward James and Claudia Valdez, causing them to feel threatened in their own home. It came to a head after 73-year-old James Valdez became tired of hearing Horak’s verbal abuse of his granddaughter and he told Horak he was no longer welcome and he would have to leave. Horak answered with an angry barrage of insults and threats. Seeing the situation escalating, Valdez armed himself with his .357 revolver. Valdez interrupted the couple in the garage as Horak was screaming at Salena and trying to force the baby away from her. Valdez warned Horak to stop and Horak allegedly charged at Valdez, who shot him in the crotch. Horak fell to the floor but then got back on his feet and charged again, so Valdez shot horak a second time. He stumbled out into the street, where he was when police arrived. Horak survived but, as a justifiable insult to a justifiable injury, he now awaits court on charges he faces from the incident.
The next shooting was one month later, on March 19th, when 23-year-old Christopher Delano Rosa was shot dead by an off-duty CHP officer. Redding Police were dispatched at 3:08 that Sunday morning to a house on Country Oak Drive off Collyer Drive in north Redding, where residents said someone was prowling and trying to get into their house through the back door. The area was searched but nobody was found. While officers were there a 911 call was made from another house on the same street a couple of blocks away. Rosa had apparently been trying to kick in the front door. The homeowner, CHP Officer Federico Lazo, had been awakened by the banging. He feared for the safety of his wife and 4 young children. As he opened his door, Rosa charged at him. Lazo warned him to stop, then shot him multiple times.
The fourth shooting was on the morning of May 5th at an apartment complex on Layton Road in east Redding. 40-year-old Walter Gordon had never met 44-year-old Dan Fern Bissell before his kids told him a weird guy was knocking at the door of their second floor apartment. Bissell was acting very erratically, yelling at inanimate objects and saying nonsensical things. Gordon saw that Bissell was knocking at the door of an elderly neighbor and he also noticed Bissell had a large kitchen knife in his back pocket. Gordon called the police and loaded his shotgun. When he went back outside Bissell was walking toward a courtyard and playground in the middle of the apartment complex. Concerned for the many neighbor children who would be leaving for school soon, Gordon pointed the shotgun at Bissell and told him to put his hands up. He was hoping to detain him until police arrived. Bissell grabbed the barrel of the gun and a tug-of-war began. Worried that the gun might end up in the hands of what appeared to be a disturbed man, Gordon squeezed the trigger and Bissell dropped to the ground dead.
Stephanie Bridgett says the most difficult part of reviewing cases like these is having to explain it to the family of the deceased. Bridgett says that in all four of the cases, the necessary factors were there to justify the use of force. The October 24th shooting death of 49-year-old Mark Alan Turner has not yet been sent to the D.A.’s Office for review. Turner was shot dead by James Johnson on City View Drive off Walker Mine Road in a dispute over possible trespassing