The Great Smoky Mountain Journal
Staff, Wire Reports
Posted: Sunday, January 21, 2018 07:22 PM
California Gunman Who Shot Up Elementary School Had Long Standing Dispute With Neighbors According To Reports
The California gunman whose Tuesday
rampage left four people dead and nearly a dozen injured was embroiled
in a longstanding dispute with neighbors that included an arrest for
allegedly stabbing one of them.
Kevin Neal’s mother, who only identified herself as Anne, said her son
was feeling frustrated and sounded desperate about the ongoing dispute
with his neighbors. She said her son claimed his neighbors were running
a methamphetamine lab with fumes that were harming his nine dogs.
"I'm on a cliff and there's nowhere to go," he reportedly told his
mother about the situation.
His
mother told the Associated Press that her son called him the day before
the shooting saying: "Mom it's all over now. I have done everything I
could do and I am fighting against everyone who lives in this area."
Apparently infuriated by the longstanding dispute, Neal, armed with a
semi-automatic rifle and two handguns, opened fire in seven different
locations across the tiny rural community of Rancho Tehama Reserve,
including near an elementary school. His first two victims were two of
his neighbors.
Neal was later killed in a shootout with police.
According to authorities, Neal was out on bail for a charge of stabbing
his neighbor and had been the subject of complaints from other neighbors
who said he had been firing off hundreds of rounds of ammunition.
Brian Flint told the Record Searchlight newspaper after the shooting
that his neighbor was the gunman.
