Shootings plague Butte County

According to the Butte County Sheriff’s Office, a call just before midnight on Monday (Sept. 19) involving two gunshot victims walking along a roadside is linked to a marijuana garden.

The victims, Oroville residents Vincent Rex, 45, and Linda White, 39, were found suffering from wounds to their heads, and were taken to a local hospital. Rex’s injuries were minor, and White left prior to finishing medical treatment. Both were uncooperative when questioned.

San Jose resident Andrew Gatley, 23, told deputies he’d shot the pair with a sawed-off shotgun while protecting a medical-cannabis garden. He was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon, among other charges. An accomplice, Dennis Buchanan, also of San Jose, was also arrested.

Meanwhile, in Chico, police detectives are investigating the murder of a man whose body was found slumped over the wheel of a Toyota sedan at the corner of Bruce Road and Highway 32 early Wednesday morning (Sept. 21). As of press time, Chico police could confirm only that the unidentified 20-something man had died of a gunshot wound.