Gun recovered, suspect arrested in fatal shooting at Forestville home

A man who was seen fleeing a Forestville home where another man was shot dead late Friday was detained minutes later by a sheriff’s deputy who spotted the suspect’s vehicle at a gas station in Guerneville.

The victim’s identity was not immediately available Friday. He appeared to be in his 40s, Sonoma County Sheriff’s Sgt. Spencer Crum said from the scene.

The suspect, who also was not identified, was being questioned by detectives late Friday.

Deputies were sent to the home in the 9800 block of River Road around 7:30 p.m. for a reported shooting. They found the victim in an upstairs living room of the multilevel home, Crum said.

He could not confirm reports that the man had been shot in the neck. Crum said the victim was administered CPR prior to being declared dead at the scene.

Crum said a 911 caller who reported the shooting said the suspect left the house in a white Ford Windstar minivan heading toward Guerneville.

A deputy spotted the vehicle at the MD Gas and Food station on the outskirts of town about 10 minutes after the shooting.

The suspect was arrested without incident near the van. Crum said a weapon was recovered but he declined to identify it or say where it was found.

Outside the River Road home, holiday lights strung along the steps glowed in the darkness.

Crum said it wasn’t clear whether the victim lived at the home, which is set in a grove of redwoods.

Two sheriff’s deputies driving from Guerneville to the shooting scene avoided serious injury when their patrol cars collided on River Road near Korbel Winery, Crum said.