Shooting At Calif State Park Which Killed Father Not An Isolated Incident
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CALABASAS, CA (CBSMiami) - The mysterious shooting at a popular California state park, in which a father was killed while camping with his two daughters, does not appear to be an isolated incident.
Authorities confirm at least five other shootings have occurred at Malibu State Park area in the last two years.
James Rogers was sound asleep at a campsite in November 2016 when a stinging pain jolted him awake at 3 a.m.
"I tried to get up and just fell right through the hammock down to the ground," he said, "I had no idea what had happened."
It wasn't until shotgun pellets starting falling out of his right arm that Rogers knew he had been shot.
"It was birdshot. They're a little bit smaller, three-millimeter diameter bbs, but it shoots a hundred of them," he said.
Rogers' campsite was within about a mile of where Tristan Beaudette was shot and killed last Friday morning. Beaudette was inside his tent and camping with his two and four-year-old daughters.
Investigators confirm there have been three other shootings in the area, two from 2017, and one that happened just four days before Beaudette was killed.
Rogers said described what had happened to California state parks, but they never followed up with an official report.
"Obviously this latest incident is such a tragedy," said Rogers who wondered if Beaudette would even have camped there if he had known about the other shootings.
"He probably wouldn't have booked the campsite for his family," he said.
California state parks officials declined to provide any information about any of the shootings to CBS News and sheriff's investigators won't say if they're any closer to finding the gunman. Meanwhile, the entire campground where Beaudette was shot is closed indefinitely.
