Hunt for gunman continues
Kern County officers believe the killer who also wounded two deputies is still within the rural search area.
Authorities have found evidence indicating that a gunman who killed a dentist, kidnapped three men and wounded two Kern County sheriff ’s deputies is still within a remote five-square-mile area east of Bakersfield.
During the intense search, deputies “came across indications” that led them to believe the gunman is still in the area, sheriff ’s spokesman Ray Pruitt said. Pruitt said he could not disclose details about what deputies found because it’s part of the investigation.
“We believe this person is still out there,” he said. “The last thing we want is anybody else getting hurt.
As the manhunt entered its seventh day, U.S. marshals arrived at the isolated area Thursday to help in the search.
The dragnet is centered at Jawbone Canyon Road and Kelso Valley Road, where SWAT officers last encountered the unidentified gunman believed to be wearing olive-green apparel.
More than 75 deputies on off-road vehicles and in patrol cars are combing caves, abandoned mines and twisting dirt roads.
The Kern County Sheriff’s Office is using two-person teams to ensure deputies’ safety. The gunman, Pruitt said, has shown that “he isn’t hesitant” to engage law enforcement officers.
“Our belief is this individual is armed and extremely dangerous,” Pruitt said.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Forest Service issued an emergency order to close the Piute Mountains, a range in the Mojave Desert, as teams of deputies and SWAT officers searched for the man.
All forest land and trails in the Piute Mountains and roads leading into the wilderness were closed. The Pacific Crest Trail also was closed from California 58 to Bird Springs Pass until further notice.
Authorities think the man hiked over the Piute Mountains, possibly using the Pacific Crest Trail, to get to Weldon, 10 miles away, after kidnapping three men July 28.
Sheriff ’s officials said the gunman held a 19-year-old man and two 20-year-old men captive for an hour in a cabin near Twin Oaks, where he apparently had been staying.
After the men were able to escape, the gunman stole their off-road vehicle and fled, authorities said. He later abandoned the vehicle.
Two days after the kidnapping, on July 30, the gunman shot retired dentist David Louis Markiewitz, 64, of Tehachapi, sheriff ’s officials say. Markiewitz’s body was found in a cabin in Weldon.
Two days later, after authorities launched the manhunt, the gunman fired at SWAT deputies on a remote property near Kelso Valley and Jawbone Canyon roads, striking Deputy Michael Booker and Deputy Jose Perez. Booker was shot in both arms, and Perez was grazed by a bullet.
The gunman is described as 30 to 35, white with blue eyes, and wearing glasses and a brown corduroy cap. He has long, brown hair and was “dirty in appearance,” officials said.