Armed psycho on the loose in our mountains- MURDER!

[skysthelimit]

prayers for you and your family that this is resolved quickly and peacefully.

 

[funnies50]

Wow! :x Scary. Stay safe, MSD. Again, if anybody's prepared for incidents, it's you and your fam. :lol: Hope this passes over quickly. :|

 

[Miss M]

The guy wounded a couple of deputies in a shootout Saturday night, but got away. The terrain they are tracking him in is very difficult.

http://www.kerngoldenempire.com/news/lo ... uhqLCkiMzg

 

[Zinnia]

Thanks for the update. This was the first thing on my mind this morning. I was so hoping that it was over and everyone was safe. MSD, you are still in my prayers. What a horrible thing to have happen in your own neighborhood.

 

[Susie570]

The guy wounded a couple of deputies in a shootout Saturday night, but got away. The terrain they are tracking him in is very difficult.

http://www.kerngoldenempire.com/news/lo ... uhqLCkiMzg

Even scarier to know he's still out there, still armed and crazy. :x

 

[MaggieJ]

Thanks for the update, Miss M.

What I don't understand is why they aren't using tracking dogs at this point. The police had an encounter, so there should be a scent trail for the dogs to follow.

 

[Miss M]

Another update:

Update as of 11 p.m. Sunday:

Just after 6:30 p.m., incident command decided to pull a majority of ground personnel, including the SWAT units, snipers and bomb squad. Officials say the ground units were removed for safety reasons, because of the mountainous terrain around Hydeout Ranch, which remains the focal point of the search.

The sheriff's office says the killer likely has an extensive degree of survival training, know lee of the terrain and possibly military training.

What I don't understand is why they aren't using tracking dogs at this point. The police had an encounter, so there should be a scent trail for the dogs to follow.

Did it say somewhere that they aren't?

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Thanks for keeping everyone updated while I was in town yesterday, Miss M.

This is the latest:

Update as of 11 p.m. Sunday:

Just after 6:30 p.m., incident command decided to pull a majority of ground personnel, including the SWAT units, snipers and bomb squad. Officials say the ground units were removed for safety reasons, because of the mountainous terrain around Hydeout Ranch, which remains the focal point of the search.

The sheriff's office says the killer likely has an extensive degree of survival training, know lee of the terrain and possibly military training.

http://www.kerngoldenempire.com/news/lo ... tOZBS27JKQ

I'm going to try to get some more info from someone I know who has connections to law enforcement in our area.

Also- I am not sure if this is idle speculation by the locals or if it is being considered by law enforcement, but it is suspected that this guy may be connected to two others who stole gas from our local school on two occasions and also stole a truck (belonging to our bus driver) from the school. These incidents both occurred over the past two weeks.

On another note, I was pleasantly surprised by how well we all did in class yesterday. It is amazing the amount of muscle memory we still have, and the speed and accuracy retained even without practicing as we normally do-it has been over a year since we have been actively training.

Our class is between 1:00 and 3:00, but we are also going to be participating in Level IV, which is "real life scenario training", where airsoft guns are used in simulations. We are going to mostly be role players since we have taken the course before, but are also going to be participating as the victims of assault in some scenarios depending on what role we are playing and how many other role players are available on a given day.

Those classes don't have a set time frame as the scenarios vary in length and everyone reacts differently so some take longer to play out than others... so from here on out for the next 11 weeks you wont be hearing much from me on Sundays.

We were done around 6:30 last night and then did a bit of shopping (and eating!) and got home around 10:00.

I cannot tell you how grateful I am that we have all taken this training... it is comforting to know that if we are actually ever involved in a life or death situation that we will at least have some chance of coming out of it alive.

 

[MaggieJ]

What I don't understand is why they aren't using tracking dogs at this point. The police had an encounter, so there should be a scent trail for the dogs to follow.

Did it say somewhere that they aren't?

None of the reports I read mentioned dogs at all, so maybe they are using tracking dogs and just didn't release that information to the media. It just seems to me that dogs, with their incredible sense of smell, would be a big asset in this kind of situation.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

None of the reports I read mentioned dogs at all, so maybe they are using tracking dogs and just didn't release that information to the media. It just seems to me that dogs, with their incredible sense of smell, would be a big asset in this kind of situation.

I didn't think of it before you mentioned it Maggie, but it does seem odd that they aren't using dogs. I know that we have K9s on the force in Bakersfield- but maybe they are trained more for urban settings or drug detection?

 

[3mina]

Having seen MSDs home terrain, hounds or Malinois would be an excellent choice. I'm not completely certain the average GSD or Rotti K9 officer would be able to cope.

 

[Miss M]

Latest update from today:

The search continues for the man officials believe is responsible for three major crimes.

The Kern County Sheriff's office says they are confident they have evidence linking the killer to a kidnapping, murder, and shooting of two deputies.

Fifteen different law enforcement agencies are helping with the search. And it is costly.

Kern County Sheriff's office says they don't know how much this search costs. They say the focus now is just finding the man. "I don't know if we've even attempted to make a determination. But that's not what we're focused on. We're focused on the fact that there is a person out there who is violent, is dangerous to this community, and our focus is on finding that person and taking him into custody so that we can prevent another tragedy," says public information officer Ray Pruitt.

The Kern County Fire Department says they have deployed 1 Fire Engine Crew managing the Heli-Spot, 1 Jet Fuel Tender for the helicopters, 1 Regular Fuel Tender for vehicles, and 1 Refrigerated Truck delivering supplies. They say they are keeping track of fuel costs but won't know figures until after the search is over.

Local police departments are also using their resources. Ridgecrest police have sent 11 officers on 12 hour shifts. Jed McLaughlan, Ridgecrest police captain "There's overtime cost associated with it, yes."

As the search continues, the school where the command post is located is growing more worried about its effect on the upcoming school year.

School employees told me the start date is August 19, and they hope the search ends well before that time.

Other schools have snow days and other contingency days built into the calendar. But they do not. So they are hoping school starts at the scheduled time.

http://www.kerngoldenempire.com/news/lo ... twB0KocdFw

 

[skysthelimit]

Having seen MSDs home terrain, hounds or Malinois would be an excellent choice. I'm not completely certain the average GSD or Rotti K9 officer would be able to cope.

There are some Shepherds trained in Search and Rescue in mountainous terrain. i don't imagine there are many PD's that keep that kind of specialty dog on hand.

 

[Miss M]

Article from today: http://www.kerngoldenempire.com/news/st ... O8p9Uq84Aw

Helps shed some light on why this is such a difficult search.

 

[skysthelimit]

This has to be a very labor intensive and expensive search. Do you think they will call in the Feds?

Probably sounds a bit sci fi, but I've been hearing about those drones. I wonder if those would be of any use?

 

[Miss M]

I would think so... I'd certainly be using them if possible.

There are now 20 agencies involved in the search: http://www.kerngoldenempire.com/news/st ... B6mkBK4ocw

The one guy they interviewed found a new bottle of alcohol and the smell of urine in a cave he visited yesterday, I believe. I hope he went to the police with the info.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I don't know if they are using dogs at this point, but they supposedly did have K9s here early on.

It does seem rather odd that there are so many agencies involved in this manhunt... murders happen quite often, especially in urban settings, so why the enormous effort for this guy? :thinking:

Doesn't it seem just a bit odd? Granted, he did fire on police officers, but still... seems like overkill, pardon the pun.

As mentioned in the article that Miss M linked to, this area is riddled with mines and caves. Hence the reason we are currently having the Jade Helm military exercises here.

In a way, the fact that he has been able to elude capture is oddly comforting. If our government does turn against us, at least there is some hope of disappearing into the hills.

 

[WhWRabbitry]

Wow... I am JUST now reading all this!! So thankful you and your family have been safe!!

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Uh-oh. Police helicopter has been circling our house for the last twenty minutes. :x

I hope that guy is not nearby, but it sure seems like he may be.

 

[MaggieJ]

Oh, no!

Is all your family home? Keep the pups close and keep your weapons of choice handy. Stay safe . . . and update us when you can.