Mount Shasta Police Officer Involved in Christmas Morning Shooting

An officer from the Mount Shasta Police Department was involved in a shooting incident in the early hours of Christmas morning, as confirmed by an online post from the department on Monday.

The department released a brief statement on their Facebook page, stating that the California Attorney General’s Office has taken over the investigation into the shooting. However, no further details were provided.

At this point, it remains unclear whether the shooting resulted in any fatalities or what circumstances led to the incident.

Check out this Rice Hack for Losing Weight

The California Attorney General’s Office has not released any information regarding the shooting. The Record Searchlight reached out to the agency via email to request additional details, but no response has been received so far.

Similarly, attempts were made to contact the Mount Shasta Police Department, but no immediate information was available.

Riannah Milligan, a resident of Mount Shasta, recounted her experience when she spotted multiple emergency vehicles and flashing lights near downtown Mount Shasta while driving home from a Christmas party at around 1 a.m. on Monday.

Milligan noticed that the police vehicles had gathered near the railroad tracks off W. Lake Street, between Maple Street and Pine Street. The presence of numerous law enforcement and emergency vehicles surprised her, as the town is typically quiet and peaceful after 6 p.m.

Milligan expressed her surprise and confusion, stating, “That’s part of why I pulled over and wanted to see what’s going on. It’s not something that we are used to in this small town. It’s a pretty sleepy town after 6 o’clock in the evening. We don’t have a lot of commotion or activity up here. We’ve had a few news stories over the last five years and those are always kind of shocking because we’re just not used to it. The amount of police make it the most shocking and confusing to me.”

This incident marks the second shooting involving Mount Shasta police in less than two years. The Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office reported that on March 11, 2022, two officers were involved in a shooting that resulted in the death of one individual.

According to the sheriff’s officials, the shooting took place following a domestic violence incident at a residence in the 2600 block of Sean Way, located just outside of Mount Shasta. Upon arrival, officers found a 57-year-old man in the backyard, holding a gun to his head. Despite attempts to negotiate, the man eventually pointed the gun at the officers, who responded by opening fire. The man was taken to Mercy Medical Center in Mount Shasta, but unfortunately, he was declared dead.

In a separate incident on June 28, 2021, Soobleej Kaub Hawj, a 35-year-old farmer, was shot and killed by law enforcement officials as he attempted to flee the Lava Fire.

According to the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Department, the shooting occurred at the intersection of Shasta Vista Drive and County Road A-12 in the unincorporated Big Springs area of Siskiyou County. Law enforcement officers were assisting residents with evacuation when they instructed the driver of a GMC truck to turn north on County Road A-12, leading out of the evacuation zone.

However, the driver disregarded the officers’ instructions and attempted to bypass the roadblock, intending to return to the evacuation zone. As the situation escalated, the driver, later identified as Hawj, allegedly pointed a semi-automatic handgun at the officers and may have even fired at them, as reported by law enforcement officials.

For any information related to this incident, Reporter Damon Arthur can be contacted at 530-338-8834 or via email at damon.arthur@redding.com. You can also find him on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @damonarthur_RS. Support local journalism by subscribing today!