California ex-cop who shot nine, killed three, lived in southeastern Licking County, Ohio
HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP − John Snowling, the man who police say shot nine people, killing three, at a California biker bar Wednesday night, lived in southeastern Licking County.
Snowling, 59, a retired police sergeant, purchased a 7-acre piece of property with Amy Marie Snyder at 18277 Brushy Fork Road SE, in Hopewell Township on Nov. 29.
One of Snowling's eight victims in the shooting was Marie Snowling, his estranged wife who was wounded, but survived. Snowling was fatally shot by Orange County Sheriff deputies. The couple married in 1988 and separated in 2020.
Col. Chad Dennis, of the Licking County Sheriff's Office, said the department served divorce papers to Snowling on Feb. 1 at his Hopewell Township home.
The divorce proceedings were ongoing and the case was scheduled for a mandatory settlement conference in November. They have two adult children.
The shooting unfolded as a cover band entertained guests during the bar’s popular weekly spaghetti night. Snowling entered the bar, walked up to Marie Snowling and immediately shot her without saying a word, authorities said.
Some patrons froze and others ran as bullets flew inside the bar before Snowling went out to the parking lot and continued to fire, witnesses and authorities said.
Officials said Snowling traveled from Ohio. It was unclear when he arrived in Southern California, where he still owns property in Camarillo.
Authorities identified one of the dead as John Leehey, 67, of Irvine, California. The other two weren’t named, including the woman dining with Marie Snowling. After being shot, the woman exited the bar and was able to make it to the roadway before dying, Barnes said.
All nine people shot were adults. Marie Snowling was conscious and speaking but remained hospitalized Thursday, Barnes said.
Her father, William Mosby, of Lake Forest, told The Orange County Register, that John Snowling could not “deal with the divorce.”
John Snowling had worked for the police department in coastal Ventura, northwest of Los Angeles, from 1986 to 2014.
Dennis said the Licking County Sheriff’s Office has not been contacted by police in California and probably will not be involved, except maybe for a copy of the divorce papers.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: California shooter Snowling killed three, lived in Licking County Ohio
