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Search for Fort Bragg shooting suspect focuses on forest campsites
Author: Jon
Date: 08-30-2011 - 17:56
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Search for Fort Bragg shooting suspect focuses on forest campsites
By JULIE JOHNSON & RANDI ROSSMANN
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Tuesday, August 30, 2011 at 2:41 p.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, August 30, 2011 at 3:00 p.m.
The search for a man suspected of killing Fort Bragg City Councilman Jere Melo focused Tuesday on several campsites discovered by search teams canvassing timber land near Fort Bragg.
Suspect Aaron Bassler, 35, a Fort Bragg native accused of shooting to death Melo Saturday morning, was known to spend time living in the woods not far from the confrontation, Mendocino County Sheriff's Capt. Kurt Smallcomb said.
Law enforcement teams set out again in the early morning Tuesday to comb a large swath of forestland “one section at a time” where the shooting occurred, on private timber land about four miles east of Fort Bragg.
Investigators are also working to see if there is a connection to the shooting death of Albion resident Matthew Coleman, 45, who had been clearing brush as part of his job with the Mendocino Land Trust when he was shot multiple times by an unknown assailant.
His body was found Aug. 11, near his car parked north of Westport, about 25 miles north of Fort Bragg and officials Tuesday said Coleman may have been killed with a similar weapon as the one used against Melo, a high-caliber long rifle, Smallcomb said.
Detectives were waiting for forensics tests to determine if the same weapon was used in both killings.
Other officials, meanwhile, announced the closure of Jackson Demonstration State Forest at Camp One campgrounds and a public firewood area in the area, in the interest of public safety said Chief Christopher Rowney of the Cal Fire Mendocino unit.
The forest, California's largest start park, is almost 50,000 acres of redwood country. It stretches east from Fort Bragg out along the Noyo and Big rivers watershed and includes numerous trails and campsites.
Bassler was known to have been camping out in the woods in the vicinity of the shooting. There officials found a garden of opium poppies and evidence that Bassler had been camping and tending to the plants, Smallcomb said.
The camp was “one of many” discovered by officers searching the area since Saturday's shooting. They haven't found any evidence to indicate Bassler had access to a vehicle, further indication that he may still be in the woods, Smallcomb said.
Three days since Melo was gunned down, sheriff's officials haven't detailed how they identified Bassler as a suspect.
A man working with Melo on Saturday returned gunfire before escaping on a train car associated with the Skunk Train.
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Search for Fort Bragg shooting suspect focuses on forest campsites
By JULIE JOHNSON & RANDI ROSSMANN
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Tuesday, August 30, 2011 at 2:41 p.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, August 30, 2011 at 3:00 p.m.
The search for a man suspected of killing Fort Bragg City Councilman Jere Melo focused Tuesday on several campsites discovered by search teams canvassing timber land near Fort Bragg.
Suspect Aaron Bassler, 35, a Fort Bragg native accused of shooting to death Melo Saturday morning, was known to spend time living in the woods not far from the confrontation, Mendocino County Sheriff's Capt. Kurt Smallcomb said.
Law enforcement teams set out again in the early morning Tuesday to comb a large swath of forestland “one section at a time” where the shooting occurred, on private timber land about four miles east of Fort Bragg.
Investigators are also working to see if there is a connection to the shooting death of Albion resident Matthew Coleman, 45, who had been clearing brush as part of his job with the Mendocino Land Trust when he was shot multiple times by an unknown assailant.
His body was found Aug. 11, near his car parked north of Westport, about 25 miles north of Fort Bragg and officials Tuesday said Coleman may have been killed with a similar weapon as the one used against Melo, a high-caliber long rifle, Smallcomb said.
Detectives were waiting for forensics tests to determine if the same weapon was used in both killings.
Other officials, meanwhile, announced the closure of Jackson Demonstration State Forest at Camp One campgrounds and a public firewood area in the area, in the interest of public safety said Chief Christopher Rowney of the Cal Fire Mendocino unit.
The forest, California's largest start park, is almost 50,000 acres of redwood country. It stretches east from Fort Bragg out along the Noyo and Big rivers watershed and includes numerous trails and campsites.
Bassler was known to have been camping out in the woods in the vicinity of the shooting. There officials found a garden of opium poppies and evidence that Bassler had been camping and tending to the plants, Smallcomb said.
The camp was “one of many” discovered by officers searching the area since Saturday's shooting. They haven't found any evidence to indicate Bassler had access to a vehicle, further indication that he may still be in the woods, Smallcomb said.
Three days since Melo was gunned down, sheriff's officials haven't detailed how they identified Bassler as a suspect.
A man working with Melo on Saturday returned gunfire before escaping on a train car associated with the Skunk Train.
Fair Use Disclaimer
