The following is a press release from the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office. The information has not been proven in a court of law and any individuals described should be presumed innocent until proven guilty:
On 09-16-2024 at approximately 6:53 P.M., Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office Deputies were dispatched to the 1000 block of Road B in Redwood Valley for a call involving suspicious circumstances.
The initial reporting party advised there was a suspicious male subject who was seen on their neighbor’s property and was now walking up Road B. An additional reporting party contacted a Sheriff’s Deputy as he arrived in the area and advised they had observed a male subject breaking into a residence in the area.
Sheriff’s Office Deputies responded to that residence and observed signs of forced entry. Deputies searched the residence and did not locate anyone.
The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch Center began receiving additional calls from a male subject stating he had been shot. The male was not forthcoming with information and would not say where he was located or provide his exact whereabouts.
Sheriff’s Office Deputies continued to search the general area where they believed the caller to be located, based on the GPS location of the phone which was used to call 911. This location was further up Road B from the property where the subject was initially seen and the location of the residence which had been broken into.
At approximately 8:20 P.M., Sheriff’s Office Deputies were able to locate a 43-year-old male from Fort Bragg, CA. The male advised that he had been shot in the leg while in front of the small, abandoned residence where he was now located. Deputies observed some type of wound on the subject’s leg and summoned medical assistance.
The male subject advised Deputies that two unknown subjects wearing ski masks and assault rifles had chased him to the location and shot at him while he was in front of the residence. The male subject was transported to a local hospital for medical treatment.
Deputies canvassed the scene and did not locate any evidence of a shooting taking place at the location. Deputies conducted further investigation to include speaking with neighbors and reviewing surveillance videos from the area and were unable to corroborate the male subject’s claims that a shooting occurred or that he was shot.
Medical professionals were unable to determine if the injury to the male subject’s leg was a result of a projectile grazing or some other abrasion/cut.
Based on the evidence located during this investigation and the inability to corroborate the male subject’s claims about the shooting incident, the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office does not believe a shooting took place and does not believe there are any outstanding suspects.
This incident is still being actively investigated and anyone with information regarding this case is asked to contact the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch Center at (707) 463-4086 or by calling the non-emergency tip line at (707) 234-2100.
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