A bloody shooting spree in California this week left at least 80 animals dead and sent neighbors fleeing to safety in the middle of the night, authorities said.

A man, Vicente Joseph Arroyo of Salinas, was taken into custody after he fired multiple weapons in a vineyard in Prunedale over a three-hour period Tuesday, the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. Prunedale is an unincorporated community in Monterey County, about 100 miles south of San Francisco.

Just before 3:30 a.m. Tuesday, the sheriff’s office responded to calls of multiple shots being fired and soon issued a shelter-in-place order for residents within a 5-mile radius.

“Various calibers of weapons could be heard being fired in an area that was extremely dark and covered in thick vegetation,” the news release said. “This made it difficult for deputies to immediately locate the person or persons responsible for firing the weapons.”

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Officers from multiple agencies responded to the scene, and by sunrise authorities had located the suspect and a crashed vehicle along a road in the vineyard.

After Arroyo, 39, was taken into custody without incident, authorities found a cache of weapons including multiple long rifles, shotguns, handguns and an illegal assault weapon.

Pictures from the scene posted to social media by the sheriff’s office showed a large amount of ammunition and what appeared to be at least one bulletproof vest.

Roughly 80 Animals Were Killed

Roughly 80 animals were killed in the shooting spree, authorities found, including miniature horses, goats, rabbits, guinea pigs, chickens, ducks and birds. Arroyo lived in a trailer next to the property where the animals were killed, according to Cmdr. Andres Rosas, a spokesperson for the Monterey County sheriff’s office.

The animals did not belong to Arroyo, Rosas said. One of the animals killed belonged to the neighboring landowner, and the rest were kept in pens there by a person who rented the land.

While some animals initially survived, they were later euthanized because of the severity of their injuries, authorities said.

Arroyo was booked into the Monterey County jail for willful discharge of a firearm with gross negligence, animal cruelty, illegal possession of an assault weapon, vandalism, criminal threats and felony possession of a firearm. His bail was set at $50,000.

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Sheriff Do Not Know Motive

The sheriff’s office said Thursday it did not know of a motive for the violence.

Jason Maynard, a neighbor, recalled the overnight chaos, telling TV station KSBW and other local news outlets that after hearing the gunshots, he told his wife and child to drop to the floor.

“It is a horrible scene,” Rosas told the news station. “We are very fortunate that no human lives were lost.”

Rosas said there was no information to indicate the suspect was looking for anyone specific and that it appeared the animals were the targets.

“I’ve been doing this for 24-plus years now,” he said, “and no, I’ve unfortunately never seen anything like this when it comes to animal life lost.”

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Derrick Bryson Taylor/Monterey County Sheriff’s Office
c. 2024 The New York Times Company