Sheriff’s office releases new details of deadly Clearlake Oaks shooting, identifies victims
- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Sheriff’s Office has released additional information plus a detailed outline of the Monday shooting spree in Clearlake Oaks that resulted in the deaths of two men, the wounding of a woman and a California Highway Patrol officer, and left community members shaken.
Authorities have taken Alan Leroy Ashmore, 61, of Clearlake Oaks into custody for the shooting.
He was apprehended on High Valley Road in Clearlake Oaks at around noon on Monday after leading law enforcement on a four-mile chase that ended when he came upon a roadblock and surrendered, according to Sheriff Brian Martin.
Ashmore was captured only about a half hour after the first reports of a shooting came into Lake County Central Dispatch just before 11:30 a.m. Monday, authorities said.
On Tuesday, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office identified the two men who died in the shooting as Ashmore’s 85-year-old father, Douglas Ashmore, and Alan Ashmore’s longtime friend, 64-year-old Richard Eugene Braden.
Sheriff Martin confirmed to Lake County News that Richard Braden was the father of Paul Braden, who along with Orlando Lopez was sentenced to life in state prison for the June 2011 shooting in Clearlake that killed 4-year-old Skyler Rapp and wounded five others. Paul Braden currently is serving a 248-year sentence.
The sheriff’s office has not released the name of a 22-year-old Middletown woman wounded by Ashmore in the Monday shooting.
The California Highway Patrol identified the injured officer as Steven Patrick from the Clear Lake Area CHP office. Patrick is an 11-year veteran of the CHP.
The agency said Patrick was struck in the abdomen by a shotgun slug, but he sustained non-life threatening injuries because he was wearing a bulletproof vest.
The Clear Lake Area office originally had told Lake County News on Monday that Patrick had been shot in the leg.
On Tuesday, Officer Kory Reynolds explained the Patrick had reported over the radio being hit in the leg. Reynolds said the slug struck in the lower abdomen above the hip, where a small portion of the vest sits.
Reynolds said he wasn’t sure Patrick even looked that closely at where he was struck, as even after he was shot, Patrick – along with a sheriff’s deputy – continued following Ashmore.
The CHP said Patrick, who was taken to a local hospital for treatment, was released and is recovering at home.
Ashmore is being held on charges including first-degree murder, attempted murder, robbery and arson, based on his booking sheet. He is scheduled to be arraigned in Lake County Superior Court on Wednesday.
Ashmore is charged with arson because, in the midst of the shootings on Monday, he is said to have set two small wildland fires on High Valley Road to assist with his escape.
Firefighters were dispatched to those fire incidents just before 11:45 a.m. Monday. Radio reports indicated that Cal Fire’s air resources originally were held back from responding due to concern about an active shooter in the area.
Cal Fire Battalion Chief Sean O’Hara told Lake County News that one of the fires burned an acre, with the second burning just over 1.3 acres. He said the causes for both remain under investigation.
Sheriff’s officials said investigators are still trying to put together the information needed to determine Ashmore’s motivation in the crime spree.
On Tuesday, Lt. Norm Taylor of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said the investigation was still in its initial phases.
He said the agency was not releasing any information about Ashmore’s criminal history, which already has been the source of extensive speculation on social media and newly created Web pages.
Taylor also did not have information about ongoing or past problems at the residence Ashmore shared with his father.
In addition, Taylor said the agency could not confirm possible military service for Ashmore.
When Ashmore was apprehended, he was in possession of a Remington 1200 12-gauge semi-automatic shotgun, a Raven Arms .25 caliber semi-automatic pistol and numerous rounds of ammunition, the sheriff’s office said.
On Tuesday, Taylor could not answer questions about the guns Ashmore used during the shooting, and whether they were legally registered to or possessed by him.
As for the progress regarding the processing of crime scenes, “In Clearlake Oaks, we’re done,” said Taylor.
On Monday, most of Anchor Village in the Clearlake Keys had been cordoned off, with Martin reporting that four homes on the street were among the seven to eight crime scenes around Clearlake Oaks that were being processed by investigators.
Two vehicles – Ashmore’s white Chevrolet Tahoe that he drove during the incident and a green Saturn sedan in which Braden’s body was located – have been collected as evidence, Taylor said.
“Both vehicles were transported to secure facilities to be processed by evidence techs in the coming days,” Taylor said.
The timeline of the shootings
On Tuesday the Lake County Sheriff’s Office released a timeline of the shootings the previous day.
The timeline is shown below in its entirety.
– An Anchor Village resident and neighbor of Ashmore saw Ashmore leave the house mid-morning on Monday, Oct. 23, 2017.
– Richard Braden, a longtime friend of Ashmore, showed up at the Ashmore residence and was seen knocking on the front door and windows. No one came to the door and he left a short time later. He parked nearby on Anchor Village and sat in his vehicle, a green Saturn sedan.
– Ashmore returned to his residence and a neighbor heard a woman screaming. Ashmore engaged in an argument with a 22-year-old Middletown woman inside of the home. The argument escalated and Ashmore threatened the woman while he held her at knifepoint. The woman resisted Ashmore and he shot her once in the foot as she fled the residence. The woman ran to the neighbor’s house and was let inside.
– Ashmore went outside and asked a neighbor where the woman went. In order to help protect the woman, the neighbor told Ashmore that she had left the area.
– Douglas Ashmore, the father of Alan Ashmore, came out of the Ashmore residence. Alan approached his father with a handgun and shot him. Douglas Ashmore was later found dead at the scene. Alan Ashmore then pointed the gun at the neighbor and pulled the trigger. Ashmore’s weapon, a small caliber semi-automatic handgun, misfired and the witness was uninjured.
– Ashmore retrieved a 12-gauge semi-automatic shotgun from his residence and got into his white Chevrolet Tahoe. Ashmore drove a short distance to a neighbor’s house on Anchor Village. Ashmore fired at the house with the shotgun, entered the residence and again fired the shotgun at the occupants. While the occupants fled, one woman suffered non-life threatening injuries as she jumped from a window.
– Ashmore went back to his vehicle and drove further west on Anchor Village while he fired from his vehicle at one other occupied home. He stopped at the residence of a former employer and fired one shotgun round through the back of the house. At the time of this shooting, the homeowners were not at home.
– Ashmore located Braden in his vehicle parked on Anchor Village. While Braden was sitting in the driver’s seat of his vehicle, Ashmore shot him with the shotgun. Braden was later found dead at the scene.
– Ashmore encountered CHP Officer Steven Patrick, who was responding to the initial call of a shooting. Ashmore fired an unknown number of shotgun rounds at Officer Patrick, striking both the patrol vehicle and the officer. The officer sustained non-life threatening injuries, as he was struck in his ballistic vest. The officer later responded with a sheriff’s deputy, in an attempt to locate Ashmore and provide security at a local elementary school. The officer eventually sought medical aid, and he was released later that day after being treated at an area hospital.
– Ashmore fled in the white Chevrolet Tahoe and drove to a Chevron station located near the intersection of Highway 20 and Keys Boulevard. Ashmore went into the Chevron store armed with the shotgun and confronted a vendor. After seeing the shotgun, the vendor fled the store and Ashmore fired one shotgun round at him. The round missed the vendor who then retreated to his vehicle and retrieved a handgun, as he was licensed to carry a concealed firearm. Ashmore took a soda from the store and went back out to his vehicle. Ashmore, still armed with the shotgun, was confronted by the vendor who fired several times at Ashmore in an attempt to stop him. Ashmore was not struck by any of those shots. Several rounds impacted Ashmore’s vehicle.
– Ashmore left driving west on Highway 20. He then pulled into the parking lot of the Power Mart, located on Highway 20 near Foothill Boulevard in Clearlake Oaks. Ashmore entered the store, again armed with a firearm. He robbed the store of merchandise, including cigarettes and a lighter. Ashmore engaged in another altercation with an unknown citizen prior to leaving.
– Ashmore left driving east on Highway 20 before turning on High Valley Road. In an attempt to aid in his escape, Ashmore lit wildfires fires as he drove up High Valley Road. Those fires were later controlled by Northshore and Cal Fire firefighters.
– Ashmore drove to the Brassfield Winery where he brandished a firearm at a person at that location. Lake County Sheriff’s deputies caught up to him as he continued on High Valley Road. Ashmore fled from the deputies, and the pursuit continued west on High Valley Road. Sheriff’s deputies, CHP officers and a Lakeport Police Officer positioned themselves at the intersection of Bartlett Springs Road and High Valley Road, in order to prevent Ashmore from escaping. When Ashmore arrived at the roadblock, he surrendered to sheriff’s deputies without further incident. He was in possession of a Remington 1200 12-gauge semi-automatic shotgun, a Raven Arms .25 caliber semi-automatic pistol, and numerous rounds of ammunition.
Members of the public who witnessed the shooting or have other pertinent information should contact Det. Sgt. John Gregore at 707-262-4238.
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