Heliport
16th Jun 2004, 02:53
Associated Press report Motive in California rampage remains mystery
IRVINE, Calif. -- Authorities tried Monday to find out what prompted a man to shoot two lawmen and a recycling center employee before a deputy in a helicopter shot him to death.
None of the three people shot Saturday by Henry Lee Brown, 52, was seriously injured. Brown was a Vietnam veteran whose last known address was in San Antonio. It was unclear why he was in California.
"We just think he went off the deep end for some reason and we don't know why," said sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino.
Brown, who had also lived for a time in Florida, had been charged in Ohio in July 2003 with possession of dangerous ordnance and carrying a concealed weapon, said sheriff's spokesman Jon Fleischman.
After opening fire on workers Saturday morning, Brown engaged in a gunbattle with deputies for nearly five hours.
Authorities believe Brown may have also fired on a woman Thursday as she was practicing at a nearby shooting range. She was not hit and deputies who searched the canyon at the time could not find her assailant.
Brown, dressed in green, Army-style fatigues, wounded the employee at the Baker Canyon Green Recycling Center, then a deputy who answered a 911 call. More than two hours later, he shot a sheriff's deputy who was piloting a SWAT helicopter.
A deputy firing from a helicopter killed Brown two hours later.
The helicopter pilot, Deputy David Tilstra, was treated at a hospital for a leg wound and released. Deputy Jerry Larson, who was shot in the arm and shoulder, was released Sunday. The recycling center employee, who was not identified, suffered a minor wound.
IRVINE, Calif. -- Authorities tried Monday to find out what prompted a man to shoot two lawmen and a recycling center employee before a deputy in a helicopter shot him to death.
None of the three people shot Saturday by Henry Lee Brown, 52, was seriously injured. Brown was a Vietnam veteran whose last known address was in San Antonio. It was unclear why he was in California.
"We just think he went off the deep end for some reason and we don't know why," said sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino.
Brown, who had also lived for a time in Florida, had been charged in Ohio in July 2003 with possession of dangerous ordnance and carrying a concealed weapon, said sheriff's spokesman Jon Fleischman.
After opening fire on workers Saturday morning, Brown engaged in a gunbattle with deputies for nearly five hours.
Authorities believe Brown may have also fired on a woman Thursday as she was practicing at a nearby shooting range. She was not hit and deputies who searched the canyon at the time could not find her assailant.
Brown, dressed in green, Army-style fatigues, wounded the employee at the Baker Canyon Green Recycling Center, then a deputy who answered a 911 call. More than two hours later, he shot a sheriff's deputy who was piloting a SWAT helicopter.
A deputy firing from a helicopter killed Brown two hours later.
The helicopter pilot, Deputy David Tilstra, was treated at a hospital for a leg wound and released. Deputy Jerry Larson, who was shot in the arm and shoulder, was released Sunday. The recycling center employee, who was not identified, suffered a minor wound.