Sheriff reacts to spate of gun violence
A recent increase in gun violence in Tuolumne County, with two nonfatal shootings inside 28 hours this week and the shooting death of 17-year-old Eric Aguiar in Sonora a month ago today, has some anxious residents wondering what’s going on and whether there’s a pattern in the latest incidents of aggression and shootings.
The most recent shooting was Wednesday night in Tuttletown, where two men fought, one man was shot in the torso, and the suspected shooter was later arrested. The evening before in Twain Harte, two men fought over money, one man was shot, and the suspected shooter was hospitalized, according to Tuolumne County Sheriff Bill Pooley.
A month ago on Sept. 16, Aguiar was fatally shot in a parking lot adjacent to the Sonora High School campus. The suspected shooter, 20-year-old Joshua Amondo Rodriguez, of Tuolumne, has been arrested and extradited to Tuolumne County, where he had two video court appearances this week (See related story, this page).
Few people in the county can remember two shootings in consecutive days, let alone three shootings, including an alleged murder, in one month.
Pooley, speaking in phone interviews Thursday, sought to quell any anxiety or alarm residents may be feeling in the wake of the recent gun violence.
‘These are not random acts’
“The thing I really want to stress to the public — the public in general is not in any danger,” Pooley said. “The individuals last night knew each other and had a beef with each other and decided to settle it violently. This is not something random happening here.”
The shooting Tuesday in the Twain Harte area also involved two men who knew each other and decided to fight, and it ended with gunfire, Pooley said.
“The two most recent shootings are absolutely not connected in any way,” he said. “In both cases we either made an arrest or we know the suspect and both cases have been solved. Typically these incidents
happen a couple months apart. This time they happened one after the other.”
In the wake of the fatal shooting of Aguiar a month ago, Sonora Police Chief Turu Vanderwiel said law enforcement believed the suspect and the victim knew each other, and the alleged murder was “not a random act.”
Vanderwiel also said in September it was too soon to understand if the fatal shooting of Aguiar “was drug or gang related.”
Asked whether anyone can remember three shootings in one month in Tuolumne County, Pooley, said, “Actually, more than that. There were two driveby shootings in the days leading up to the homicide. It’s not clear they are related.”
Asked for more information about the drive-by shootings, Pooley referred questions to his department’s communications staff.
Further information about two drive-by shootings that preceded the shooting death of Aguiar on Sept. 16 was not available Thursday afternoon.
Asked about social media comments made by some Tuolumne County residents in reaction to the recent shootings, including some who speculate the increasing violence is due to increasing drug and alcohol use, Pooley said he couldn’t comment on whether impairment was a factor in the shootings this week.
“I don’t believe the public is in any danger,” he said again. “In both shootings the individuals knew each other, and it wasn’t a random act where you feel the public’s in danger. I feel the public’s safe.”
Asked whether Sheriff’s Office personnel have noted any increase in illegal open-carry of firearms in the county, Pooley said he hasn’t had any reports or incidents to indicate more people are illegally carrying weapons openly or oth
erwise.
Speaking of the two shootings on consecutive days this week, Pooley said, “These are coincidences, that they were so close together. Typically they are months apart, even six months apart. These two happened right in a row.”
Pooley said he’s noted no recent change in the character of the county.
“We’re blessed,” the sheriff said, “to be in a good community.”
Wednesday night shooting
One man was injured in the shooting Wednesday night in the parking lot at the Tuttletown gas station on Highway 49, and the girlfriend of the owner at the business said a family member heard fighting before what sounded like three or four gunshots.
The shooting was reported just after 9 p.m. at the Country Store, which is also known as Lake Ridge Inn gas and mini mart, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Tuolumne County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the business and learned a male had arrived at Adventist Health Sonora with at least one gunshot wound to the upper torso.
The shooting victim was
taken to another unspecified hospital for further treatment.
Deputy Niccoli Sandelin said in a phone interview Thursday morning that the man was recovering and did not release his name.
Deputies at Lake Ridge Inn did some interviews Wednesday night and identified the suspected shooter as Phillip Smail Jr., 28, of Angels Camp.
The Angels Camp Police Department helped locate Smail at a residence in Angels Camp, where he was arrested by Tuolumne County sheriff’s detectives on suspicion of attempted murder and possession of ammunition by a prohibited person.
Rimpal Kaur, 48, speaking Thursday morning in a phone interview, said the shooting Wednesday night outside the gas and mini mart, which is her business and residence, was the first shooting there in the 16 years that she and her boyfriend have co-owned the property.
“I had closed at 8 p.m.,” she said. “I was in the shower. My daughter hears somebody fighting and yelling. I hear shooting, the gun popping three times, four times. She says, ‘Momma they’re fighting, they shoot.’ Nobody could see it. We
could hear it.”
Kaur said her 19-yearold daughter called the Sheriff’s Office and deputies in four or five law enforcement vehicles came out to take a report.
Kaur emphasized the dispute and the shooting occurred “far away” from the storefront of the building where she works and lives. She said the violence happened at the garage, a structure that is on the far side of the gas pumps, which are also set back from the main business building.
Personnel with the Sheriff’s Office posted a brief summary of the shooting to social media after 12:20 a.m. Thursday with a photo that shows the garage where Kaur said the shooting occurred.
“This is the first time it’s happened,” she said. That’s why I’m scared.”
In another phone interview, her daughter said she could hear voices outside and she glanced out and looked. At first it sounded like men were fighting, farther away from the house, then they were quiet and weren’t arguing anymore. Then she heard gunfire. It was dark and she couldn’t
see a lot. That’s when she called for law enforcement.
She noted that while the store is closed at night, the gas pumps at the business remain open so that people can purchase gas at the pumps using ATM or credit cards. It’s not uncommon for people to stop at night, and it’s not uncommon for the business owner’s family to hear people speaking to each other outside by the pumps.
Wednesday night was the first time she heard a fight and gun shots out there.
“Nothing like this happened here before,” she said. “Never any gunfire out there.”
Tuesday evening shooting
No arrests in the shooting in the Twain Harte area on Tuesday had been announced by the Sheriff’s Office as of Thursday afternoon.
The shooting on Tuesday was preceded by an argument over money between two men, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
One man suffered a gunshot wound to the elbow, and the other suffered head injuries unrelated to the gunfire.
Both men were hospitalized. Pooley said Thursday detectives are monitoring the suspected shooter’s recovery at a hospital, and an investigation of the Twain Harte shooting is continuing.
“The suspect in the first case in the Twain Harte shooting had some severe medical injuries,” he said. “We’re going to do a complaint on that individual. When they get out of the hospital we’ll make an arrest.”
Neither man involved in the Twain Harte shooting Tuesday have not been identified.