Shooting at Marin detox facility leaves one dead and two injured

LOS ANGELES — Authorities are searching for a suspect in a shooting that killed one person and injured two others at a detox facility in Marin County officials said Monday.

Detectives with the Marin County Sheriff’s Office determined the shooting was an isolated incident and that the community was under no threat.

The Sheriff ’s Office said authorities received a call at 1:33 a.m. local time from the Helen Vine Detox Center in San Rafael reporting that staff members had been shot.

Deputies arrived to find three people with gunshot wounds, but authorities could not confirm whether the victims worked at the facility. The victims were not patients.

One man died at the scene. Another man and a woman were taken to Marin General Hospital following the shooting, authorities said, but their conditions were unknown.

The shooter fled the scene, officials said. The center’s security staff and local law enforcement officers, including a California Highway Patrol helicopter unit, searched the immediate area but did not find a potential suspect.

The Helen Vine Recovery Center is a licensed, 26-bed coed facility in San Rafael that offers both detox and residential substance use disorder treatment. Clients can stay up to 30 days for detox and up to 90 days for residential treatment. Last year, the staff at Helen Vine saw more than 900 patients.

The center is run by Buckelew Programs, the largest provider of community-based mental health and support services in the North Bay. The organization sees almost 10,000 people in Marin, Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino and Lake counties. It also runs the North Bay Suicide Prevention Hotline.

“While it is unimaginable to think that such a horrific event occurred at one of our facilities, it’s important to remember that Buckelew Programs has been providing safe and effective services for decades; improving the lives of tens of thousands of people,” Tamara Player, Buckelew’s chief executive, said in an email.