Following the tragic shooting in Northern California on Tuesday that left four people dead and several others (including seven school children) injured, more details are beginning to emerge about the gunman, identified on Wednesday as Kevin Neal, 43, of CNN reports, including the development that Neal had killed his wife the night before he began his deadly rampage.
Neal reportedly began his attack a little before 8 a.m, killing a neighbor who had put a restraining order on him since his arrest in January. However, Neal's wife's body was reportedly found beneath the floorboards of his house, as ABC 7 reports, leaving investigators to believe that her death was the start of the attack.
The Tehama County Sheriff’s Office confirms that the gunman in yesterday's series of shootings was Kevin Janson Neal, age 43. https://t.co/oGq2hHiNqnpic.twitter.com/R1Iw4Zhsfw
— NBC Bay Area (@nbcbayarea) November 15, 2017
"He then stole a pickup truck, and went on a rampage in town, shooting at homes, motorists, and eventually the school, apparently at random,” Tehama County Assistant Sheriff Phil Johnston.
CNN reports that Neal arrived at the elementary school nearby and tried to enter, however, the staff was alerted, the doors were locked and the students hid. Neal wasn't able to get inside, and after trying for a few minutes, he left. He reportedly then crashed his truck into a car, killed another person and stole another vehicle before being stopped by police officers who eventually shot and killed him.
As noted following the Sutherland Springs shooting, violence against a shooters' spouses (and particularly violence against women) is painfully common in instances of mass shootings that are growing more and more frequent. According to Massshootingtracker.org there have been 391 mass shootings in the United States in 2017.