California shooter often fought with neighbors

UPDATE: Authorities on Wednesday said they found the body of California shooter Kevin Neal’s wife inside their home in Rancho Tehama Reserve, Calif. Tehama County Assistant Sheriff Phil Johnston said they found the body beneath the floor boards. Investigators believe her death is what triggered Tuesday’s rampage that left six dead, including the shooter, and 10 injured.

OUR EARLIER REPORT (10:25 a.m.): The mother of the gunman who killed four people and wounded 10 on Tuesday in Northern California said he struggled with mental illness and had a long-standing feud with his neighbors. Kevin Neal, who was killed in a shootout with police, was arrested and made bail in January on charges of stabbing one of his neighbors. People who lived near him in Rancho Tehama Reserve, Calif., said they repeatedly complained to the sheriff that Neal fired guns at all hours. “You could hear the yelling. He’d go off the hinges,” said Cristal Caravez, who lived nearby. “It would be during the day, during the night, I mean, it didn’t matter.” Neal’s mother, who asked to be identified only by the name Anne, said she spoke with him by phone Monday and he told her, “I have done everything I could do and I am fighting against everyone who lives in this area.” On Tuesday, Neal began his shooting rampage by killing two neighbors and then searching for other victims. Surveillance video showed him trying to enter an elementary school, but staff members locked the outside doors and barricaded themselves inside when they heard gunshots. He fired into the school for about six minutes before driving off. Police said one student was shot but is expected to survive.