Mendocino County home invasion call triggers massive search

Law enforcement officers on Thursday spent six hours searching for what now appears to have been phantom gunshot victims, reported to have been wounded during an alleged home invasion robbery north of Laytonville.

Deputies were unable to find the victims - a mother and 16-year-old son - nor the man who reported the incursion in an early morning phone call. The search was called off at noon, soon after a man called to say no one was hurt and the suspects had fled, sheriff’s officials said.

But investigators did find evidence that something happened.

“The investigation continues. There are indications an incident occurred,” said Sheriff’s Lt. Shannon Barney. He would not divulge what those indications were.

Neighbors had reported hearing shots fired and an argument on the property, but area residents also said gunshots are a normal occurrence. A police scanner report indicated that a machete and hockey-style masks, like those featured in horror flicks, were found. Barney declined to comment on the report.

The investigation began following a 911 call at 5:47 a.m., sheriff’s officials said. A man said his wife was shot in the stomach during a home invasion and that her teenage son may have been wounded, officials said. He said seven men armed with handguns and rifles arrived at the property to steal marijuana, officials said. He did not provide an exact location, saying only there was a trailer and a 400-plant marijuana garden on the property, Barney said.

CHP and other officers aboard a helicopter tried to pinpoint a location but soon discovered there are marijuana gardens and trailers throughout the area, where marijuana growing is ubiquitous.

“The whole mountain is covered in marijuana,” Barney said.

The area is comprised largely of 20-acre, 40-acre and 160-acre parcels located in rugged oak woodlands and timber properties. Some back up onto Bureau of Land Management property.

“It’s pretty rugged,” said Laytonville Fire Chief Jim Little. His department, along with Cal Fire and Veri Health Ambulance Service, stood by for hours during the investigation in case there were injuries.

The incident is odd, but Laytonville is accustomed to unusual events, from homicides to unsolved disappearances, according to area residents.

“On a per capita basis, we probably have as many homicides as some metropolitan areas,” Little said. “I’m sure not all of them are reported.”