Sheriff: Tehama shooter built his own illegal guns

Phil Johnston, the assistant sheriff for Tehama County, displays a booking photo, from a prior arrest, of Kevin Janson Neal, during a news conference, Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2017, in Rancho Tehama Reserve, Calif.

Two of the guns used in the Tehama County mass shooting on Tuesday were homemade, while the other two were not registered to the shooter, officials said.

There also was a restraining order issued in February that prohibited the shooter from owning guns.

Those were some of the revelations made Wednesday about the mass shooting at Rancho Tehama on Tuesday that left six people dead, including the shooter, and 10 others injured. 

The two homemade AR-15 type semiautomatic rifles were made from parts the shooter, Kevin Janson Neal, 44, purchased, said Phil Johnston, Tehama County’s assistant sheriff.

“These firearms were manufactured illegally, we believe, by him at his home,” Johnston said Wednesday. “So they (the guns) were obtained in an illegal manner, not through a legal process. They are not registered.”

The fence at Rancho Tehama School is bent where shooter Kevin Janson Neal rammed a vehicle through it during a shooting rampage that killed four people on Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2017.

In addition to the two rifles sheriff’s deputies found during the shooting investigation, Johnston said Neal also had two handguns registered to someone else.

Neal used those guns to go on a shooting rampage, killing four people and wounding 10 others. However, no children were killed. Neal apparently rammed the gate of Rancho Tehama Elementary School with his pickup and fired numerous shots at buildings.

He was later killed during a shootout with deputies while he was trying to flee in a stolen vehicle. Sheriff’s officials believe Neal’s wife was killed Monday and her body was stuffed in a hole in the floor of their home.

“We believe that’s probably what started this whole event,” Johnston said.

Despite owning numerous weapons, Neal had a restraining order filed against him in February that prohibited him from owning firearms.

More:Sheriff: Shooter killed wife day before mass shooting in Rancho Tehama

The restraining order was filed after he was charged with assaulting — with a gun and a — and falsely imprisoning two women in Tehama County. Neal did not have a felony conviction against him that would have prevented him from owning a gun, Johnston said.

Neal had been arrested numerous times in California and North Carolina for such crimes as drug sales and hit-and-run driving, Tehama County District Attorney Gregg Cohen said.

After allegedly attacking the two women, who were his neighbors, he got out of jail on bail, set at $160,000. Cohen said bail was set by jail officials, and his office did not get a chance to argue for higher bail in court.

Neal, like other defendants, had a constitutional right to bail, though, he said.

He also said the restraining order was issued after Neal continued to harass his two victims after he got out of jail, Cohen said. The harassment included calling Cal Fire to complain that the two women were making methamphetamine.

Neighbors had also complained about Neal shooting guns at his home on Bobcat Lane in Rancho Tehama, about 15 miles southwest of Red Bluff.

 

Johnston said deputies went to Neal’s home more than once but were unable to find him. They also set up surveillance outside his home hoping to catch him. That didn't happen, though.

The gunman's sister, Sheridan Orr, told the Associated Press her brother had struggled with mental illness throughout his life and at times had a violent temper.

She said Neal had "no business" owning firearms.

Despite the restraining order, Neal apparently built two semiautomatic rifles from parts he purchased, Johnston said.

More:Alleged gunman in Tuesday's rampage had history of violence

“He can get parts through a number of variety of sources and they come together and they can build them in their shop or they can build them in their garage,”Johnston said.

“The more restrictive that the laws become for people to purchase (guns), we’re going to see those criminal elements build their own. That’s what they do,” he said.

Marshall Jones, who owns Jones Fort gun shop in Redding, said it is legal in California to purchase the lower receiver — the part that takes the trigger mechanism. Other parts, such as barrel, stock, etc., are purchased separately to complete an AR-15 type rifle, he said.

“It’s really not hard. Anybody can build their own gun,” he said.

The shooter may not have had a serial number put on the gun, which would make it illegal, Jones said.

More:A school boy, a married couple among Rancho Tehama shooting victims

U.S. Rep. Doug LaMalfa, who represents Tehama County, said schools districts should have the option to have staff armed to protect students and others on campus.

"I've spoken to teachers around Northern California who wish to have that option," LaMalfa said.

He said that retired police or military trained in firearms use could be used to provide armed campus security.

"We've got to be more creative as far as campus safety and security," LaMalfa said. "We live in perilous times and we need these options to keep these campuses safe."

Tehama County Superintendent of Schools Richard Duvarney agreed that in rural school districts, where law enforcement help may be several minutes away, school officials may need to be called on to use guns to protect students and others on campus.

"It seems to make a little more sense when the school is off the beaten path and there's a long response time for law enforcement," Duvarney said.

He said he understands guns on campus is a controversial issue.

"I think it depends on the situation. We have schools that are right in the middle of communities and the response for law enforcement is very quick. When we have guns on campus in those situations it might complicate things," he said.

"I have a little bit different opinion when you're 30 to 40 miles away from a response from law enforcement. It may be appropriate then," he said.

Until recently, schools in California had the discretion to allow people with concealed weapons permits to carry guns on campus. But the state Legislature passed a law this year that forbids all guns on campus.

Amanda Wilcox, legislation and policy chairwoman for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said her organization was against allowing teachers and others to use guns for campus safety.

She said most people don’t have the same training as police officers, who are taught to make decisions about when to use deadly force.

She said the risks of possibly injuring more people outweigh the benefits of allowing guns on campus.

“Making a decision on when to shoot is hard for law enforcement,” Wilcox said. “To assume that a citizen is going to perform any better is not likely.”

It can also make it confusing for law enforcement when they do arrive.

“When people pull out guns, how do you determine who is the good guy and who is the bad guy?” she said.

LaMalfa also said he would like to see more counties use Laura's Law, which provides court-ordered treatment for some people suffering severe mental illness.

According to the Treatment Advocacy Center of Arlington, Virginia, Tehama County does not participate in the Laura's Law program.

"County officials must authorize and implement these programs in the remaining counties so that people like Kevin Neal do not fall through the cracks, and so senseless tragedies like this one finally cease,” said executive director John Snook.