LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The California Highway Patrol officer who was shot during a Monday Clearlake Oaks shooting spree is on the mend, with his commander calling his actions to help apprehend the suspect heroic.
Officer Steven Patrick, an 11-year CHP veteran, was shot by Alan Leroy Ashmore, 61, of Clearlake Oaks during the Monday morning rampage that stretched over multiple locations in the town.
Patrick’s bulletproof vest is likely to have saved his life – it stopped a shotgun slug that struck him in the abdomen.
Ashmore killed two people – his father, 85-year-old Douglas Ashmore, and friend Richard Braden, 64 – plus wounded another woman, shot at several other people, committed robbery and burglary, and set two wildland fires on High Valley Road, according to the complaint filed against him by the District Attorney’s Office.
On Wednesday, during Ashmore’s first appearance in the case in Lake County Superior Court, Patrick was in the audience, dressed in civilian clothes. Seated with him were the commander of the CHP Clear Lake Area office, Lt. Hector Paredes, and another uniformed CHP officer.
CHP Officer Kory Reynolds said the agency’s incident logs showed that it was shortly after 11:30 a.m. Monday that Patrick – who had heard scanner traffic about the shootings – called in to request information.
It was just minutes later that he called in to report that he had been hit, Reynolds said.
The criminal complaint filed against Ashmore said he fired an unknown number of times at Patrick.
Despite being struck, Patrick continued on in pursuit of Ashmore, Paredes told Lake County News.
Paredes said over the radio they could hear that Patrick was clearly in pain, but he was focused on capturing Ashmore.
Paredes said Patrick would continue on with the pursuit, and that he was part of the group of law enforcement officers that followed Ashmore up High Valley Road, where he surrendered after encountering a roadblock.
“His acts were clearly heroic,” Paredes said of Patrick, who he added has spent most of his career in Lake County.
Paredes said he was very inspired by the actions of Patrick, a young officer who was so intent on capturing Ashmore that he didn’t actually know the extent of his own injuries.
As for how Patrick is doing, “He’s in good spirits,” said Paredes.
Paredes said Patrick has a good-sized bruise where the slug hit his vest.
“We are actually working on getting him a new vest,” Paredes said.
Patrick is now off of work for a time to rest and recuperate. While he’s physically well, Paredes said he’s concerned about the emotional impacts of such an incident.
Patrick is the first CHP officer in Lake County to be shot in more than two decades.
The last local CHP officer to be wounded in the line of duty was Erich Paarsch Sr., who was shot May 15, 1995.
Paarsch told Lake County News that he had conducted a traffic stop on Highway 29 just outside of Lower Lake on a speeding car whose driver he believed to be under the influence.
When Paarsch was speaking with the driver, the man pulled a stolen handgun out from behind the seat and pointed it at Paarsch’s chest. Paarsch said he grabbed the gun with his hand to push it down and the gun went off.
Paarsch said he suffered a through-and-through wound to the palm of his hand, with no vulnerable bones struck by the bullet.
He and the suspect, Joseph Flores, then exchanged fire before Flores fled the scene in the car. Flores later was captured. Paarsch said he hadn’t been able to take part in the pursuit because one of Flores’ bullets had hit the ignition wire in his patrol car, disabling it.
Paarsch retired after 30 years of service – 17 of them in Lake County – in 1999, and continues to live in Lakeport with wife, Mary. Their son, Erich Jr., is a sergeant with the CHP’s Ukiah office, daughter Erica Coddington is a retired CHP officer and grandson Christian Coddington is a CHP officer working in Indio.
The last time a local CHP officer was seriously assaulted was in October 2012, when Erica Coddington was attacked by an Orange County man, Ronald Ossenberg, who had driven to Lake County in a stolen vehicle.
Coddington found the vehicle parked alongside the road in Lower Lake and stopped to check it when Ossenberg assaulted her. She was helped by a passerby and fatally shot Ossenberg during the confrontation.
In an odd coincidence, the area where Coddington was attacked was a short distance from where her father was shot.
Paarsch said there was a distance of only about a mile and a half between the location of those two incidents involving him and his daughter.
“Isn’t that strange?” he asked.
Paredes said morale in the Clear Lake Area office has remained good in the wake of the shooting.
“We have a real tight squad,” said Paredes.
He said the personnel in the Clear Lake Area office – which has about two dozen officers – are supportive of one another.
Still, the week’s activities have been a sobering reminder of how dangerous the work of law enforcement officers can be.
“It’s always a reminder of the nature of what we do,” Paredes said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
CHP: Officer hurt in Monday shooting doing well
- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On