CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – The Lake County Sheriff's Office said that the man believed to have killed a woman and injured three others in an early Thursday morning shooting was taken into custody later in the day on the campus of a Clearlake school.

Ezequiel Junior Bravo, 24, of Clearlake was arrested shortly after 9 a.m. Thursday, according to Lt. Steve Brooks.

Brooks said Bravo has been booked into the Hill Road Correctional Facility on charges of murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon and assault with serious bodily injury.

Bravo's bail has been set at $1 million, Brooks said.

At approximately 2:16 a.m. Thursday the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Central Dispatch received a report of a male shooting a gun inside a house located on Elem Drive at the Elem Indian Colony in Clearlake Oaks, Brooks said.

When deputies arrived they located a female inside the residence who was deceased from an apparent gunshot wound, along with a male subject with an apparent gunshot wound to his arm and a 6-year-old girl with an injured arm, Brooks said.

Brooks said deputies were later notified that another female victim with an apparent gunshot wound to the chest had transported herself to the hospital. 

He said the injured child and male victim were transported by air ambulance to medical facilities located outside Lake County. 

Deputies secured the scene and requested Major Crimes Unit detectives respond, Brooks said.

During the initial investigation the suspect was identified as Bravo, who had fled the scene in one of the victim’s vehicles, which he abandoned a short distance away on Pomo Road, according to Brooks.

Brooks said a search of the area was conducted by ground and air with the assistance of Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office helicopter Henry 1. A be on the lookout was sent out to surrounding agencies and a Nixle alert was issued to the public that included a photo of Bravo.

At approximately 9 a.m. a school official at Pomo Elementary School in Clearlake who had seen the Nixle alert observed a male subject on the campus and believed the individual to be Bravo, Brooks said.

The Clearlake Police Department was contacted and responded to the school, where Brooks said Bravo was taken into custody without incident.

According to county arrest records, the Clearlake Police Department arrested Bravo in October on felony charges of marijuana cultivation, while the sheriff's office arrested him in May for a misdemeanor charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and a felony for possession of a dirk or dagger.

Bravo also has a March 2011 arrest by the sheriff's office for misdemeanor battery on a person on hospital or school grounds and felony vandalism.

Anyone with information regarding the Thursday homicide case is asked to contact Detective Richard Kreutzer at 707-262-4233.

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Working to make water conservation a way of life, state agencies on Wednesday released a draft plan for achieving long-term efficient water use and meeting drought preparedness goals that reflect California’s diverse climate, landscape and demographic conditions.
 
“Californians rose to the challenge during this historic drought and recognized that conservation is critical in the face of an uncertain future. This plan is about harnessing the creativity and innovation that Californians have shown during the driest years in state history and making water conservation a way of life in the years ahead,” said California Department of Water Resources Director Mark W. Cowin. “This plan will help make permanent changes to water use so California is better prepared for whatever the future brings.”
 
The new plan’s fundamental premise is that efficient water use helps all of California better prepare for longer and more severe droughts caused by climate change.
 
California recently suffered the driest four years in state history, with only average rainfall last year, and 75 percent of the state remains in severe drought conditions.

Meanwhile, a new report from UCLA projects that the Sierra Nevada snowpack – one of California’s largest sources of water supply – is likely to drop 50 percent by the end of the century due to climate change.

Recognizing these risks and many others, today’s plan seeks permanent changes to water use that boost efficiency and prepare for more limited water supplies.

These practices will help achieve a top priority in the Governor’s Water Action Plan – to “Make Conservation a California Way of Life.”
 
Wednesday’s plan builds on the success of mandatory water restrictions during California’s severe drought and develops long-term water conservation measures that will ensure all communities have sufficient water supplies.

This will involve activities such as ensuring farmers plan and prepare for severe drought and permanently banning wasteful practices like hosing off sidewalks and driveways.
 
“The last few years provided the wake-up call of all wake-up calls that water is precious and not to be taken for granted,” said Felicia Marcus, chair of the State Water Resources Control Board. “Californians rose to the occasion collectively during the drought. We can build on that success and now prepare for a more unpredictable and disruptive future marked by a changing climate – and do it equitably and cost effectively.”
 
The plan represents a shift from statewide mandates to a set of conservation standards applied based on local circumstances, including population, temperature, leaks, and types of commercial and industrial use.

For example, communities in hotter and drier climate zones will receive irrigation allowances that reflect evaporation levels.
 
Key water conservation efforts included in today’s plan include:

• Permanent bans on wasteful practices, such as hosing driveways and excessively watering lawns.

• Technical assistance and financial incentives for water suppliers to implement leak prevention, detection, and repair programs.

• Collecting information about innovative water conservation and water loss detection and control technologies.

• Requiring agricultural water suppliers to quantify water use in their service areas and describe measures to increase water use efficiency.

• Full compliance with water use targets for urban water suppliers by 2025.

• Planning and preparing for continued and future drought and water shortages.
 
Some of the actions described in the draft plan will require working with the Legislature on new and expanded State authority, while others can be implemented under existing authorities.

All recommendations aim to achieve the main objectives of the Governor’s Executive Order B-37-16: use water more wisely, eliminate water waste, strengthen local drought resilience, and improve agricultural water use efficiency and drought planning.
 
In addition to taking action to implement this long-term water conservation plan, state agencies recognize the reality that most of California potentially faces a sixth year of historic drought.

Therefore, in January the State Water Board also will consider whether it must extend its existing emergency water conservation regulations, as required by Gov. Brown’s recent executive order.

The State Water Board has already taken action to maintain mandatory reductions in communities that could not verify they have enough water supplies to withstand three more years of severe drought.
 
The new plan, Making Water Conservation a California Way of Life,  Implementing Executive Order B-37-16,” is the result of extensive community and stakeholder engagement across California.

It was prepared by the Department of Water Resources, the State Water Resources Control Board, the Public Utilities Commission, Department of Food and Agriculture and the Energy Commission.

For more information on the development of the draft plan, visit http://www.water.ca.gov/wateruseefficiency/conservation/ .
 
The State encourages the public to submit comments on today’s draft plan: “Making Water Conservation a California Way of Life Implementing Executive Order B-37-16.”

Comments should be submitted to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. no later than Dec. 19, 2016. Public comments will be posted at: http://www.water.ca.gov/wateruseefficiency/conservation/comments.cfm .

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Sheriff's Office reported that it has taken a man into custody for an early Thursday morning shooting in Clearlake Oaks that killed a woman and injured three others, including a child.

Ezequiel Bravo Jr., 24, was located and arrested several hours after the Thursday shooting by sheriff's deputies and Clearlake Police officers, the sheriff's office reported.

The agency initially offered little information about Bravo, but said it would provide further details of the incident as the investigation progressed.

Authorities said it was Bravo who shot four people early Thursday at Elem Indian Colony in Clearlake Oaks, as Lake County News has reported.

The sheriff's office said Bravo – also known as “Junior” – showed up at a residence at the Elem Indian Colony armed with a shotgun.

Authorities said he entered the home and shot four people, killing one adult female, injuring an adult male and adult female, and also injuring a 6-year-old girl.

Just before 2:30 a.m. firefighters and sheriff's deputies responded to the rancheria on the report of a gunshot victim, according to radio reports.

One victim was declared dead at the scene, one had reportedly driven herself to the hospital and two others were taken by ambulance to St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake, where two air ambulances were waiting to take two of the victims to out-of-county trauma centers, reports from the scene indicated.

After the shooting, the sheriff's office said Bravo fled the scene in a vehicle which later was found in Clearlake Oaks. Bravo was taken into custody separately later on Thursday.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Lake County Sheriff's Detective Richard Kreutzer at 707-262-4233.

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.

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CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – An early Thursday morning shooting at the Elem Indian Colony reportedly left several people injured, with one fatality also reported in connection to the incident.

The shooting was first reported just before 2:30 a.m., according to radio reports.

Northshore Fire and Lake County Sheriff's deputies were dispatched to a location on Elem Road in the Elem Colony, located just outside of Clearlake Oaks.

Initial reports indicated one person had been shot in the chest with a shotgun and another was wounded in the arm.

Firefighters had to stage outside of the rancheria while sheriff's deputies secured the scene, according to radio reports.

Central Dispatch relayed to firefighters that one gunshot victim had driven herself to the hospital while the person responsible for the shooting also was reported to have left the scene in a vehicle.

Firefighters later reported finding two gunshot victims – one of them a 6-year-old girl – at the Elem Colony and transporting them to St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake, where air ambulances responded to fly the patients to out-of-county trauma centers.

Radio reports also stated that there was one person who had died at the rancheria.

Early Thursday deputies were reported to still be looking for a male subject believed to have committed the shooting.

Additional details will be posted as they become available.

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.

CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – The driver of a lumber truck was uninjured on Wednesday after the vehicle rolled over and into Clear Lake, closing a portion of Highway 20 and resulting in a small diesel spill.

The crash occurred just before 11:30 a.m. in the area of Widgeon Bay on Highway 20 at Hillside Lane, according to reports from the scene.

The truck rolled off the highway and partially into Widgeon Bay, with firefighters arriving on scene reporting that the cab was not in the water but the driver was trapped.

Firefighters were able to extricate the driver, who was uninjured, according to Northshore Fire Chief Jay Beristianos.

Beristianos said he was amazed that the driver escaped injury, considering the smashed up condition of the truck's cab.

Reports from the scene said both the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and Lake County Environmental Health were notified due to concerns about a diesel spill at the scene.

Beristianos said firefighters got booms in place, and while there was diesel in the grass and dirt on the shoulder, there was no sheen on the lake, which would have resulted if diesel had gotten to the water.

Environmental Health Director Ray Ruminski, who also was at the scene, said that while the truck's fuel tanks were leaking – and there also may have been some engine oil that escaped – firefighters kept the fluids from moving very far with containment equipment and materials.

Like Beristianos, Ruminski said he could see no sheen of petroleum on the water, although he said that if there is diesel in the mud and vegetation on the bank there was concern that it could seep into the lake.

Ruminski said the truck's trailer had rolled over onto the steep slope that is the highway shoulder, with some of the lumber load going into the lake.

Also responding to the scene was the Sheriff's Marine Patrol, the California Highway Patrol and Caltrans, Ruminski said.

The North Shore Dive Team had been dispatched but was canceled after a fire district battalion chief arrived and found the truck cab was not in the water, Beristianos 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.