REDDING — On June 10th just after 1 a.m., Redding Police officers turned up at a local hospital regarding a gunshot victim who’d arrived shortly before. Apparently, she and three others had been driving back from the movies when an unknown assailant shot at them from the corner as they made a right turn.
The details were initially limited and entirely contingent on the victims’ recollection — that they’d been travelling south on Churn Creek Road and had been shot at as they turned right onto Cypress Avenue west. One of the bullets struck the rear of the vehicle and hit 19-year-old Jessica Newman as she sat in the back seat. She was admitted to the hospital quickly thereafter. Joining her were Courtney Watkins (18), William Nichols (19), and Cory Herzberg (19) — all of Redding — who’d also been in the vehicle at the time but were uninjured.
That’s about all anyone had to go on until well into the following night (still June 10th) at 10 p.m., when someone else called in to report he’d discovered a bullet hole in his vehicle. Redding local Noah Barnhart (22) said he too had been driving on Cypress Avenue at the same time, though in the opposite direction, when he’d heard a loud noise that he initially wrote off as having run over something on the road. It wasn’t until after hearing news of the shooting that he took a good look at his vehicle and noticed the bullet hole.
Further investigation then revealed that one of the passengers in the Honda had thrown a milkshake out the window either at or in the general direction of the unknown pedestrian, who responded by pulling his gun and unloading at least two rounds at the vehicle as it sped away — one of which struck Jessica Newman and the other Barnhart’s vehicle.
The suspect — described as a white male, approximately 5-foot-10, stocky, and wearing black cargo shorts, a grey shirt, and a black baseball cap — is then said to have fled north on Churn Creek Road. He has yet to be found.
Anyone with information regarding the incident or suspect is encouraged to contact Redding Police Department Investigations Division at 530-225-4214 or Shasta County Secret Witness at 530-243-2319. A reward of up to $5000 is being offered for information leading to the suspect’s arrest.
Read more:
Redding Record Searchlight: Police seek man who shot teen in car on Cypress Avenue
Redding Police Department press release: (Part 1) (Part 2)
