Forestville man jailed in attempted murder

A Forestville man was hospitalized and another man suspected of attempted murder was jailed following a late-night shooting Wednesday in a hillside community off River Road, Sonoma County sheriff’s officials said.

Eric Joseph Justensen, 48, of Forestville was being held on $1 million bail at the Sonoma County Jail on suspicion of shooting a 26-year-old man multiple times, possibly in the presence of a child, Lt. Carlos Basurto said. The wounded man was in stable condition Thursday and was expected to survive, he said.

The gunfire erupted just before 10 p.m. Wednesday at a residence along Rio Dell Court, a short private road lined with mostly ramshackle residences and outbuildings on a steeply sloped hill. The lieutenant said detectives were still investigating what motivated the shooting.

Neighbors heard the commotion and called 911.

Deputies found Justensen and the wounded man inside the residence, Basurto said. They and paramedics began treating his injuries and deputies arrested Justensen “without incident,” Basurto said. A pistol believed to have been used in the shooting was taken into evidence.

Justensen had been staying with the residents of the Rio Dell Court home and was only an “acquaintance” of the man he shot, Basurto said. The other man lived elsewhere in Forestville.

Detectives had not yet interviewed the wounded man because of his condition.

Wednesday night’s violence broke out midway down the narrow, private lane amid redwoods on the south side of River Road and the Russian River.

Many of the homes are broken-down structures, their exteriors mostly crowded with debris and belongings stored in piles. Some appeared abandoned.

A man who came to the door Thursday morning at the address where authorities said the shooting occurred declined to open the door, saying he’d just gotten back home and didn’t know what had happened yet.

Bits of knotted police tape were still visible on the railing of a wooden stairway up the side of the house to a second structure uphill.

Two residents encountered on the gravel declined to discuss the shooting with a reporter, and few residents appeared to be at home.

But one resident contacted by phone said he’d heard fighting at the house, as he often did, and frantically barking dogs in the period before hearing a male voice faintly calling for help from the street.

The man didn’t provide his full name and asked to not be identified because he was concerned for his safety.

That neighbor said the house was occupied by a woman, her boyfriend and a child.

The house had frequent visitors, some of whom stayed over at different times, so it was often unclear who actually lived there, he said.

The man said he was relieved to see deputies armed with assault rifles out in force in the wake of the shooting, “keeping the neighborhood safe.” It was good, as well, to see they were wearing body cameras, the man said.

Justensen is scheduled to be arraigned at 1:30 p.m. today on suspicion of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and felony child endangerment.

Anyone with information about the case can call the Sonoma County sheriff’s violent crime investigations tip line at 565-2185.

You can reach Staff Writer Julie Johnson at 521-5220 or julie.johnson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @jjpressdem.?You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.com.?On Twitter @MaryCallahanB.