Shotgun blast from Anderson resident protecting his family ends violent crime spree and felon’s life
ANDERSON, Calif., — Authorities say a convicted felon with a criminal history that included arrests for stalking, making criminal threats, violating a domestic violence restraining order, drug possession, resisting arrest and other crimes has died after being shot by a resident whose home the suspect was repeatedly ramming with his vehicle Sunday evening, June 19.
The shooting ended a violent crime spree that included the suspect assaulting another man, repeatedly crashing his pickup truck into a vehicle and residence occupied by a friend of his ex-girlfriend, and repeatedly crashing his pickup truck into the home of his ex-girlfriend, according to officials.
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City of Anderson police officers were dispatched to a home in the 1300 block of Hemlock Avenue around 8:50 p.m. after receiving reports of a vehicle intentionally colliding into a residence.
While officers were responding to the home a 911 caller reported that they believed a shooting had taken place.
When officers arrived in the area, they found a blue pickup truck against the front of a home and located a driver with a gunshot wound to the chest inside the vehicle.
Although medical personnel were summoned to the scene they determined the man, since identified as Frank Robert Brinkley, 59, of Anderson, had already succumbed to his injury and passed away at the scene.
A crime scene was established, and additional officers and detectives were summoned to the location.
Based on their subsequent investigation, which lasted throughout the evening and well into the next morning, officers learned the Hemlock Avenue ramming and deadly shooting were preceded by several other violent incidents that began when Brinkley reportedly assaulted a man on Parkville Road in Anderson before leaving the location in his blue Ford pickup.
The victim of the initial attack told investigating officials that Brinkley had been consuming alcohol and was heavily intoxicated when he left that location.
Witness reports indicate Brinkley then drove to the residence of a friend of his ex-girlfriend, where he crashed his truck into a firepit and a vehicle at the location.
Brinkley was then driving back to Anderson on Deschutes Road when another person called 911 and reported him as a possible DUI driver who was driving with a flat tire and driving in a reckless manner.
Brinkley then drove to his ex-girlfriend’s residence on Hemlock Avenue and began intentionally ramming the front of the residence. Witness statements indicate he was seen ramming into the front of the house multiple times, both in the front door and living room area as well as the garage.
As Brinkley continued crashing his pickup into the residence, a man inside the home armed himself with a shotgun and confronted Brinkley, telling him that if he did not stop his actions he would be shot.
Ignoring the shotgun-wielding resident, Brinkley then accelerated the vehicle towards the victim who, out of fear for the safety and well-being of his family members hiding inside the home, fired one blast from his shotgun, striking Brinkley in the chest and ending the violent incident.
All of the family members within the residence were fully cooperative with investigating detectives, who determined the shotgun used in the deadly shooting was lawfully owned by the man who had fired the weapon.
As their investigation continued, detectives learned that Brinkley had already been served with a domestic violence restraining order, barring him from being within 100 yards of the residence where the fatal shooting occurred. Officials also learned that since being issued the restraining order, Brinkly had violated the order multiple times and had already been arrested for one or more of those violations.
As of this morning, no arrests had been made or were immediately expected and officials have said that their findings will be forwarded to the Shasta County District Attorney for review at the conclusion of their investigation.
Anyone with information about this investigation is encouraged to contact the Anderson Police Department at (530) 245-6526. Callers can refer to incident file number 22A006897 and can remain anonymous.
Contact the writer: [email protected]
Trevor Montgomery, 51, moved in 2017 to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and operates Riverside County News Source (RCNS) and Shasta County News Source (SCNS). Both are stringer organizations, providing breaking news coverage and community interest stories for other mainstream media organizations throughout the two regions they serve.
Additionally, he writes or has written for several other news organizations; including Riverside County based newspapers Valley News, Valley Chronicle, Anza Valley Outlook, and Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle; the Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County; and Mountain Echo in Shasta County. He is also a regular contributor to Thin Blue Line TV and Law Enforcement News Network and has had his stories featured on news stations throughout the Southern California and North State regions.
Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)
During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with other locations.
Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.
Trevor has been married for more than 30 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 18 grandchildren.