Man shot in home-invasion robbery near Willits

Authorities are investigating a home-invasion robbery in the Willits area that ended with a man shot.

Deputies learned about the robbery after they were dispatched around 8 a.m. Sunday to Howard Memorial Hospital after a patient was admitted with a gunshot wound, according to the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office.

The man, who was not identified, was driven to the hospital by two other victims who were attacked in the robbery hours earlier and sustained minor injuries, sheriff's spokesman Capt. Greg Van Patten said.

The man who was shot was later transferred to a hospital outside the county for further treatment, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Deputies said two suspects — one of whom was armed — entered the home on Highway 162 and demanded money.

They took cash, processed marijuana and 'precious metals' before fleeing the house, the Sheriff's Office reported.

'It looked like cultivation (of marijuana) was going on there. I don't know to what degree of scale or whether it was legal or illegal,' Van Patten said Sunday afternoon.

Van Patten said it remains unknown whether the gunshot victim lived in the home. There also was little information on the two suspects. But, he added, deputies are still investigating, and the victims are being cooperative.

Along with the sheriff's northern patrol, major crimes and marijuana eradication teams, the Mendocino County District Attorney's Office and the state Bureau of Forensic Services are helping with the investigation.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the Sheriff's Office tip line at 234-2100.