The findings of three deadly shooting incidents by civilians over the past several years have been released by the Shasta County District Attorney, who has declined to file charges in any of the cases after determining they were all self defense.
The first incident happened back in May of 2016. 34-year-old James Michael Patterson showed up at the 7-11 on North Street in Anderson suffering from a gunshot wound. He was taken to Mercy Medical Center, where he died. The Sheriff’s Office determined that Patterson and another man and a woman had gone to the home of Carl Smedley on Peach Lane in Churn Creek Bottom to confront him about an issue between Smedley and a mutual acquaintance. Patterson and the other man walked in, with Patterson armed with a hammer. He demanded Smedley’s cell phone and the two began loading Smedley’s things into a pickup truck. Patterson was getting increasingly aggressive and threatening, then dragged Smedley outside, saying “You’re coming with us”. At that point, Smedley grabbed a .380 caliber pistol from his female friend’s purse and shot Patterson.
The second case involves a man who was holding a baby when he was attacked. 34-year-old Burl William Hall of Shasta Lake was at a house on Harrison Avenue in South Redding arguing with some people when he and the others were told to go outside. Travis William Hutchinson went out to try and calm the situation down, and he was holding the 4 month old infant of Hall and the home’s resident. This enraged Hall, who started throwing punches at Hutchinson, who was able to evade most of them but one connected. Hutchinson was dazed by the punch and feared he would drop the baby on the concrete porch, so he pulled out a gun and shot Hall dead.
The third case involves two brothers in Bella Vista in April of last year. Shasta County Sheriff’s Deputies were sent to a home on Squaw Grass Trail on reports of a family disturbance with shots fired. They arrived to find 35-year-old Joshua Snyder inside the open garage of the house, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds in his torso. As he was rushed to the hospital, deputies got the story from family members. They said Joshua had been the aggressor, and while brandishing a pistol at his mother he had fired a shot that didn’t hit anyone. Joshua’s brother, Jeffrey Snyder, was elsewhere at the home and when he heard the shot he armed himself with a gun and went to check it out. The brothers confronted each other in the garage and Joshua pointed his pistol at Jeffrey and started advancing toward him. That’s when Jeffrey shot his brother several times.