‘Most wanted’ suspect arrested in doctor’s death

Multiple agencies find man after he allegedly shot Danville resident

In what authorities are describing as a random attack that claimed the life of a Danville doctor, a Butte County “most wanted” suspect has been arrested in a nightmarish series of events in the Sierra Nevada during the July Fourth weekend.

The Sierra County Sheriff’s Office identified the suspect late Tuesday as John Thomas Conway, 40, of Oroville, and said he was arrested Saturday after a violent confrontation with law enforcement authorities along Saddleback Road near the Gold Country town of Downieville. Conway is also the suspect in the shooting of two other people; they were airlifted to a hospital and are recovering from their injuries.

Dr. Ari Gershman’s 15-yearold son ran from the shooting in Tahoe National Forest and — after an ordeal that lasted 30 hours — was found unharmed by authorities.

“There was no confrontation with my cousin,” Marlo MeyersBarer told ABC7-TV on Tuesday. “There was no trespassing, there was no — anything. It was completely random and senseless.

They were in the Tahoe National Forest in Poker Flats. That’s the first place he wanted to go with that Jeep.”

Meyers-Barer said Gershman had bought the Jeep on Thursday and planned to use it to share his love of the outdoors with his children.

The Sierra County Sheriff’s Office “is working closely with Sierra County District Attorney, who anticipates announcing charges soon,” according to a news release.

In August 2019, the Butte County Sheriff’s Office named Conway as one of its “most wanted” fugitives for a felony warrant charging him with vandalism, battery and two counts of making terrorist threats.

The Sierra County Sheriff’s Office revealed additional details of the attack, which began about 4 p.m. Friday. Deputies received a report that two people had been shot in the Poker Flats area in northwestern Sierra County by someone driving a utility terrain vehicle.

“Neither victim knew the shooter and the act appeared to be a random attack,” the release said.

A short time later, a 911 call came in from a 15-year-old boy who said he and his father, Gershman, encountered a man while they were driving down a dirt road. The suspect shot at the two of them, killing Gershman, but the boy escaped and

hid in the forest.

Beginning Friday night and into Saturday, a number of law enforcement agencies conducted a search for the boy and the shooter. Assisting in the search were the U.S. Forest Service, California Highway Patrol, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Grass Valley police department and Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta and Yuba sheriff’s departments. CHP and Placer County sheriff’s office helicopters also took part.

After a 30-hour ordeal, the missing teen was found Saturday afternoon by officers with the help of a tracking dog, according to the sheriff’s office. He was taken to the sheriff’s office, where his mother was waiting.

Shortly after the boy was discovered, the suspect drove at two Fish and Wildlife officers and a Forest Service officer at a high speed in the UTV, trying to run over the two wildlife officers before heading south on Saddleback Road toward Downieville, according to the sheriff’s office.

A third Fish and Wildlife officer down the road started up the hill to block the man and there was a crash as officers were trying to arrest Conway. Officers then shot at the man and released a police dog, they said. Conway was arrested and treated for injuries before being taken to a local hospital.

Conway’s criminal record includes a May 2019 mental competency hearing, a July 2019 felony charge that was dismissed, a March 2019 felony charge of vandalism damage, as well as misdemeanors of battery and making criminal threats and several traffic violations dating back to 2005 in Butte County.

For the March 2019 felony vandalism charge, he was sentenced to 150 days in jail, served 60 days, was ordered to take an anger management course and put on probation for 36 months, according to court records.

In January, he pleaded no contest to a felony vehicle theft charge and was sentenced to eight months in jail and three years of a suspended sentence. It was not clear why he was out of custody, but an arrest warrant was issued June 10 after Conway violated his probation, according to court records. He was put on mandatory supervised probation through February 2022.

A GoFundMe drive to help the Gershman family has received more than $410,000 from 4,100 donors toward its goal of $450,000 as of Wednesday afternoon.

“Ari was an avid bicyclist, a vegetarian, an outdoorsman, a pulmonary doctor, a devoted and loving father and fantastic friend that was willing to drop anything for his friends and family,” a GoFundMe campaign statement said. “He was witty and wise. He died doing what he loved with his son in an area he had hoped to retire in one day.”

The campaign seeks funds to assist Gershman’s wife, Paige, a former speech and language therapist for special-education preschool classes at Greenbrook Elementary School, who is now undergoing chemotherapy to treat cancer and to support the couple’s three children.