Willits driver arrested after shooting himself in face

A Willits man who apparently shot himself in the face while driving on Highway 101 was arrested on suspicion of shooting a firearm from a vehicle, carrying a concealed weapon, and being a felon in possession of a firearm and of a loaded firearm, the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office reported Wednesday.

Kevin Bobby Norton, 34, was being trailed by a CHP officer just south of Willits late Monday night when the officer heard the sound of gunfire and saw the driver’s side window of Norton’s car explode.

Norton then pulled into a gas station parking lot, officials said, where he was met by officers from the CHP, Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office and the Willits Police Department and taken into custody.

The CHP officer was following Norton in response to a 10:30 p.m. call that a man was holding a shotgun to his head in the parking lot of a Redwood Valley bar. The man was gone when sheriff’s deputies arrived. Deputies issued a law enforcement bulletin after obtaining a description of the vehicle and learning the man was headed north on Highway 101.

Norton was spotted by the CHP soon afterward.

Norton was taken to Howard Memorial Hospital for treatment of a minor gunshot wound to his left cheek, then booked into the Mendocino County Jail.

Deputies located a sawed-off shotgun and a loaded 9 mm semi-automatic pistol inside his vehicle, according to the Sheriff’s Office.