Man To Face Charges In Danville Doctor's Slaying, Sheriff Says

SIERRA COUNTY, CA — Authorities have identified the man arrested in connection with the Friday shooting of Danville Dr. Ari Gershman and two others that prompted a 10-agency law enforcement response in rural Sierra County.

Gershman was killed in the attack. At the time, he was off-roading with his teenage son, who fled into the woods and was found safely more than a day later, the Sierra County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. The teenager was reunited with his mother at the sheriff's office.

Gershman was remembered as a kindhearted family man, excellent physician, outdoorsman and caring friend who was eager to help loved ones on a GoFundMe online fundraiser set up Monday to support his family. Donors had contributed nearly $365,000 as of Wednesday morning.

"He died doing what he loved with his son in an area he had hoped to retire in one day," loved ones wrote on the GoFundMe page.

The Sierra County District Attorney is expected to soon announce charges against John Thomas Conway, 40, of Oroville, who shot a total of three people while driving around the rural Poker Flat area of northwestern Sierra County in a utility terrain vehicle, the sheriff's office said. Officials believe this was a random act of violence; the victims did not know the gunman.

The San Francisco Chronicle first reported that Conway was on the Butte County Sheriff's Office list of most wanted suspects last year, as the Chico Enterprise-Record reported in August. He was wanted for a felony warrant related to battery, two counts of making terrorist threats and vandalism, the Enterprise-Record reported.

On Friday, the sheriff's office learned around 4 p.m. that two people were shot. They were later hospitalized and treated for injuries that were not life-threatening.

Gershman was driving on a dirt road with his son when they encountered the gunman, the sheriff's office said. He opened fire and the teenager ran into the forest to find a place where he could call 911.

Officials found Gershman, but in the hours to come, the Sierra County Sheriff's Office was joined by nine other law enforcement agencies in the search for Gershman's son and the gunman. Officers remained overnight and tactical teams were deployed at daybreak.

Read more: Danville Mourns Doctor Shot While Off-Roading With Son

The teenager was found the next day in the dense forest, the afternoon of the Fourth of July, the sheriff's office said. California Department of Fish and Wildlife officers and a K-9 officer tracked the boy down, fed him, gave him water, and reunited him with his mother at the sheriff's office.

Soon after, two CDFW officers maintaining a checkpoint spotted Conway, the sheriff's office said. He sped toward them in his utility terrain vehicle and tried to run the officers over, the sheriff's office said.

The officers tried to stop Conway, but he sped off toward Downieville, south on Saddleback Road. A third officer stationed farther down the road was able to block his vehicle, causing a collision that presented an opportunity for officers to detain him, the sheriff's office said.

Conway tried to run over the officer, which resulted in an officer firing his gun and the deployment of a K-9 officer, said Autumn Long-McGie, executive assistant to the Sierra County Sheriff. There was a scuffle during the attempt to handcuff him.

Long-McGie said the sheriff's office would not comment on whether Conway was struck by the officer's gunfire amid the ongoing investigation, but the sheriff's office said in its statement that he was hospitalized for his injuries.

Anyone with information about the attack is asked to contact the sheriff's office at 530-289-3700.