UPDATE: One dead, officer injured in police shooting in Mount Shasta
An officer with the Mount Shasta Police Department was involved in a shooting early Monday morning, according to information the department posted online.
One person was killed in the shooting and an officer involved in the shooting was also injured in the incident, according to Amber Orrey, a police services manager with the Mount Shasta Police Department. She said she could not discuss the nature of the officer's injuries.
Orrey also said she could not discuss the circumstances that led to the shooting or the name of the person who was shot.
The California Attorney General's Office has taken over the investigation into the shooting and Orrey said she was only allowed to release a limited amount of information about the shooting because the incident was still under investigation.
She did say the incident took place on an Amtrak train as it was traveling south through Siskiyou County at about 12:30 a.m. Monday
The state AG's office issued a short press release Tuesday afternoon that said one person was killed and one person was injured in the incident.
The AG's office is conducting the investigation in accordance with AB 1506 mandates which lays out the procedures for investigating the use of deadly force by law enforcement agencies.
"Upon completion of the investigation, it will be turned over to DOJ’s (Department of Justice) Special Prosecutions Section within the Criminal Law Division for independent review," the AG's news release says.
Riannah Milligan of Mount Shasta said she was driving home from a Christmas party about 1 a.m. Monday when she saw the flashing lights from the numerous emergency vehicles that had descended on an area near downtown Mount Shasta.
She said an Amtrak train was also stopped along the tracks where police vehicles had congregated. Milligan said she was taken aback by the number of law enforcement and other vehicles at the scene.
She said the emergency vehicles were near the railroad tracks off W. Lake Street, between Maple Street and Pine Street.
"That's part of why I pulled over and wanted to see what's going on. It's not something that we are used to in this small town. It's a pretty sleepy town after after 6 o'clock in the evening. We don't have a lot of commotion or activity up here. We've had a few news stories over the last five years and those are always kind of shocking, because we're just not used to it. The amount of police make it the most shocking and confusing to me," Milligan said.
Monday's shooting was the second in less than two years involving Mount Shasta police. The Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office reported that two officers were involved in a shooting that left one person dead on March 11, 2022.
In that incident, Mount Shasta police and Siskiyou County sheriff's deputies were called to a domestic violence incident shortly before 10 p.m. at a home in the 2600 block of Sean Way just outside Mount Shasta.
When officers arrived, they found a 57-year-old man sitting in the backyard of the home holding a gun to his head, according to sheriff's officials. Officers tried to talk the man into setting down the gun, but he eventually pointed the gun at officers, who opened fire on him, officials said.
The wounded man was taken to Mercy Medical Center in Mount Shasta, where he was declared dead, officials said.
Then on June 28, 2021, Soobleej Kaub Hawj, a 35-year-old farmer who was shot and killed by law enforcement officials as he fled the Lava Fire.
According to a statement from the Siskiyou County sheriff's department, the shooting occurred at the intersection of Shasta Vista Drive and County Road A-12 in the unincorporated Big Springs area of Siskiyou County.
Authorities said law enforcement officers trying to assist residents being evacuated instructed the driver of a GMC truck to turn north on County Road A-12, which leads out of the evacuation zone.
The driver "ignored numerous directions by officers" and instead attempted to drive around the roadblock and head back toward the evacuation zone, the statement said.
The driver, later identified as Hawj, "raised his hand and pointed a semi-auto handgun at the officers" and "may have" fired at the officers during the incident, according to law enforcement officials.
Reporter Damon Arthur welcomes story tips at 530-338-8834, by email at damon.arthur@redding.com and on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @damonarthur_RS. Help local journalism thrive by subscribing today!
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: UPDATE: One dead, officer injured in police shooting in Mount Shasta
