the daily torrent of human misery continues:
Morro Strand State Beach campsite (so. central Calif.)- idyllic setting
One guy taking up two spaces for his camper and shell in a very crowded parking area.
Another guy, with his eleven year old nephew and three other young kids in a rented motorhome, asks the guy to give up one of the spaces (youre only allowed one).
the guy cusses violently at the kids.
The uncle tells the 11 year old "lets tell the park ranger about this" and turns walking to the station.
The whacko gets out of his vehicle runs after the two and shoots the kid in the back of the head, then the uncle twice in the back. Both dead. Then the Ranger, hearing shots, shoots him. But he lives (of course).
July 10, 2001
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SAN PEDRO, GARDENA
Adventure Turns to Tragedy for
Boy, Uncle
Crime: On their way with family to Montana, they stopped at a Morro Bay
campground. Soon they were killed in a dispute over a parking spot.
SALLY ANN CONNELL and LOUIS SAHAGUN, SPECIAL TO THE TIMES
MORRO BAY, Calif. -- It started as a squabble over
a campsite parking space. Suddenly, the dispute at
Morro Strand State Beach Campground exploded
into deadly gunfire Sunday night, sending terrified
tourists running for their lives.
Jerry Rios Jr., 11, of Gardena, collapsed and died of
a bullet wound to the head near his uncle Stephen D.
Wells, 36, of San Pedro, who was also fatally shot by
the man with whom he had argued, authorities said.
Minutes later, the alleged gunman, Stephen A. Deflaun, 42, of Blythe, was shot
and wounded by a state park ranger after Deflaun reportedly raised his
handgun at the ranger. The bloody shooting at the peak of the summer camping
season horrified friends and relatives of the victims, a young champion athlete
and an amiable handyman who were on their way to look at property in
Montana that they hoped would serve as a safe and peaceful vacation spot or
second home.
"At first, I didn't want to believe it happened," the boy's grieving sister,
Rio-Cassandra Rios, 18, said from her Gardena home Monday. "Now, I think
it was just a weird thing that happened to us: A man shot a man and a kid over
a parking spot."
Deflaun, who was listed in stable condition and under armed guard at a San
Luis Obispo hospital Monday, was arrested on charges of murder and assault
with a deadly weapon, according to Lt. Steve Bolts of the San Luis Obispo
County Sheriff's Department.
Deflaun will be held in jail when he recovers from his wounds, Bolts said.
Deflaun reportedly arrived at the campground at about noon on Sunday. The
violence erupted shortly after Wells drove up with five relatives in a rented
recreational vehicle at 6:30 p.m.
"We really don't know the nature of the conversation between the two,
although witnesses have said they exchanged words," Bolts said.
However, the victims' relatives said that Wells, a self-employed maintenance
man, had urged his stepson and his nephew to ask Deflaun if he would mind
giving up one of the two parking spaces he had taken up at the campground.
The relatives said detectives told them that Deflaun cursed at the children,
which prompted Wells to seek assistance from a park aide in a kiosk at the
campground entrance.
Deflaun allegedly followed them and fired.
Campers initially mistook the gunfire for fireworks, park authorities said. After
hearing the popping sounds, some campers moved toward the campground
entrance, where they said they encountered Deflaun, his face red with anger,
pacing beside the bodies. They fled into the surrounding residential
neighborhood or to the beach.
Morro Strand State Beach campsite (so. central Calif.)- idyllic setting
One guy taking up two spaces for his camper and shell in a very crowded parking area.
Another guy, with his eleven year old nephew and three other young kids in a rented motorhome, asks the guy to give up one of the spaces (youre only allowed one).
the guy cusses violently at the kids.
The uncle tells the 11 year old "lets tell the park ranger about this" and turns walking to the station.
The whacko gets out of his vehicle runs after the two and shoots the kid in the back of the head, then the uncle twice in the back. Both dead. Then the Ranger, hearing shots, shoots him. But he lives (of course).
July 10, 2001
Talk about it
E-mail story
SAN PEDRO, GARDENA
Adventure Turns to Tragedy for
Boy, Uncle
Crime: On their way with family to Montana, they stopped at a Morro Bay
campground. Soon they were killed in a dispute over a parking spot.
SALLY ANN CONNELL and LOUIS SAHAGUN, SPECIAL TO THE TIMES
MORRO BAY, Calif. -- It started as a squabble over
a campsite parking space. Suddenly, the dispute at
Morro Strand State Beach Campground exploded
into deadly gunfire Sunday night, sending terrified
tourists running for their lives.
Jerry Rios Jr., 11, of Gardena, collapsed and died of
a bullet wound to the head near his uncle Stephen D.
Wells, 36, of San Pedro, who was also fatally shot by
the man with whom he had argued, authorities said.
Minutes later, the alleged gunman, Stephen A. Deflaun, 42, of Blythe, was shot
and wounded by a state park ranger after Deflaun reportedly raised his
handgun at the ranger. The bloody shooting at the peak of the summer camping
season horrified friends and relatives of the victims, a young champion athlete
and an amiable handyman who were on their way to look at property in
Montana that they hoped would serve as a safe and peaceful vacation spot or
second home.
"At first, I didn't want to believe it happened," the boy's grieving sister,
Rio-Cassandra Rios, 18, said from her Gardena home Monday. "Now, I think
it was just a weird thing that happened to us: A man shot a man and a kid over
a parking spot."
Deflaun, who was listed in stable condition and under armed guard at a San
Luis Obispo hospital Monday, was arrested on charges of murder and assault
with a deadly weapon, according to Lt. Steve Bolts of the San Luis Obispo
County Sheriff's Department.
Deflaun will be held in jail when he recovers from his wounds, Bolts said.
Deflaun reportedly arrived at the campground at about noon on Sunday. The
violence erupted shortly after Wells drove up with five relatives in a rented
recreational vehicle at 6:30 p.m.
"We really don't know the nature of the conversation between the two,
although witnesses have said they exchanged words," Bolts said.
However, the victims' relatives said that Wells, a self-employed maintenance
man, had urged his stepson and his nephew to ask Deflaun if he would mind
giving up one of the two parking spaces he had taken up at the campground.
The relatives said detectives told them that Deflaun cursed at the children,
which prompted Wells to seek assistance from a park aide in a kiosk at the
campground entrance.
Deflaun allegedly followed them and fired.
Campers initially mistook the gunfire for fireworks, park authorities said. After
hearing the popping sounds, some campers moved toward the campground
entrance, where they said they encountered Deflaun, his face red with anger,
pacing beside the bodies. They fled into the surrounding residential
neighborhood or to the beach.
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