Wife of gunman in fatal rampage found dead in their home
Authorities say Kevin Janson Neal likely shot and killed his wife before deadly spree in which four other people were killed and ten others wounded in several locations around the rural community of Rancho Tehama Reserve, California.
For 7-year-old Gage, the shooting spree on Tuesday by a gunman in Northern California that left five people dead was yet another tragedy in his young life.
When he was just 22-months-old, his mother Cher was killed in an accident. When Kevin Janson Neal, 44, began what authorities described as a "murderous rampage" in a neighborhood in Tehama County about 130 miles north of Sacramento, his father, his father’s girlfriend and her mother were among the victims.
His surviving grandmother, Sissy Feitelberg, has now started a GoFundMe fundraising account to raise money to raise her grandson, now an orphan.
"My husband and I live on Social Security, and a small retirement. I am going to have many, many expenses where Gage is concerned," she wrote. "First off being the legal issue of getting custody of Gage, which should be no problem, I am hoping. But that is going to cost money."
Gage, 7, lost his father and grandmother in the shooting rampage Tuesday in Northern California. (Sissy Feitelberg/GoFundMe)
The 7-year-old now has to readjust his life and move to his grandmother's home, and also need extensive counseling, according to Feitelberg.
"Gage is going to have to attend a new school, make new friends which he has already told me, he does not want to do," she wrote.
The 7-year-old was at the Rancho Tehama Elementary School on Tuesday when the gunfire broke out and teachers told students to hide under their desks. Randy Morehouse, the district's maintenance and operations head, said Neal "tried and tried and tried and tried to get into the kindergarten door," where Gage was, but it was locked.
This Jan. 31, 2017 photo provided by the Tehama County Sheriff's Office shows Kevin Janson Neal, the gunman behind a rampage in Northern California. (Tehama County Sheriff)
In an interview with KCRA-TV, the 7-year-old believes Neal targeted his school to try to find him. His grandmother said the gunman had an ongoing dispute with Gage's family, but was unclear of the details.
CALIFORNIA GUNMAN'S WIFE FOUND DEAD IN HOME, AUTHORITIES SAY
Earlier this year, Neal was arrested and charged with stabbing Gage's father’s girlfriend, Hailey Suzanne Poland, and attacking her mother during a Jan. 31 encounter in their rural neighborhood, according to court records.
Poland filed for a civil restraining order a week later protecting herself and her mother-and father-in-law, ages 68 and 74, as well as Gabe and his dad, Danny Elliott, 38, according to the records obtained the by the Los Angeles Times.
Yellow tags mark where bullet casings found at one of the scenes of a shooting spree at Rancho Tehama Reserve, near Corning, Calif., Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2017 (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
Poland wrote in the plea to a judge that Neal "is very unpredictable and unstable ... has anger issues" and threatened the household with a gun. She also said her and her family lived in fear of him because he was violent and unpredictable, firing off guns at all hours and threatening her with "all kinds of perverted things."
Without naming her, sheriff's officials said Wednesday that the woman seeking the protective order was killed by Neal.
A sheriff's deputy on April 1 handed Neal a court order to stay away from Poland and her family, and barred him from possessing guns.
California Highway Patrol Officers inspect one of the vehicles involved when a gunman went on a shooting rampage at the Rancho Tehama Reserve, near Corning, Calif., Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2017. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
Records show Neal certified that he surrendered his weapons in February, but Tehama County Assistant Sheriff Phil Johnston said Wednesday authorities had recovered two illegal homemade assault rifles and two handguns registered to someone else.
At Wednesday's news conference, Johnston initially said Neal "was not prohibited from owning firearms" but later acknowledged the protective order against him.
After being pressed by reporters on why police did not act when Neal was in clear violation of his court order, Johnston replied: "The law is only for people who obey it."
Cars are parked in front of the home of Kevin Janson Neal Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2017, in Rancho Tehama Reserve, Calif. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
The gunman's sister, Sheridan Orr, said her brother had struggled with mental illness throughout his life and at times had a violent temper, adding that he had "no business" owning firearms.
Several other neighbors had repeatedly reported that Neal was firing hundreds of rounds at his property every night.
Gunman kills 4, wounds 10 in California rampage
The gunman feuded with his neighbors.
Neighbor Jessie Sanders told FOX 40 he heard gunshots "every night."
"The guy was a bad guy. I mean really. Just a bad person. Some people are just bad," he said.
When asked by FOX 40 if the rampage was a shock, Sanders said he told them "this was coming." When asked further what he meant, Sanders said Neal told them "we would all pay, that we would be the ones to pay in the end."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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