5 Shootings Near Malibu Park Within 2 Years, Are They Connected?

MALIBU, CA – The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department is on the defensive this week after it was revealed that the department did not warn the public about a string of unsolved shootings that occurred within the last two years in the area in and around Malibu Creek State Park until after last week's fatal shooting of a chemist killed while camping with his two young daughters.

In all, police investigated five seemingly random shootings within two years in the area before Tristan Beaudette was killed inside his tent with his two and four-year-old daughters, the Los Angeles Times reported. A Department spokesperson would not tell Patch why the agency opted not to alert the community to the danger. Officials have closed the campground until further notice as a safety precaution.

"The Malibu/Lost Hills Station previously increased patrols in the areas nearby the prior incidents, and had canvassed the surrounding residences in an effort to obtain any workable information. Detectives used a number of Department resources and investigative techniques to examine and work each individual case," according to a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department official.

Although the other shootings got little attention at the time, some are now fearing that they might be connected. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is reviewing the earlier cases, but haven't found any direct links to the fatal shooting of Beaudette, Los Angeles Times reported.

Two shootings before the fatal shooting of Beaudette occurred on June 6 and July 22 last year, and another happened on June 18, sheriff's department spokeswoman Nicole Nishida told the newspaper. Some of the shootings targeted campers, one of which involved a woman who posted video on Facebook of a bullet hole in her vehicle along with photo of a shotgun slug that she said pierced the tailgate as she slept inside.

On Sunday, Los Angeles television stations reported that a Simi Valley woman and her boyfriend had been sleeping in their car's cargo area last January when it was hit by a large shotgun slug.

Meliss Tatangelo says they were awakened by a "large thump" about 5 a.m., but went back to sleep.

"We woke up around 6, left the campsite and went to get coffee. In the parking lot of the coffee shop we hear something rolling around in the back of my car," Tatangelo wrote on Facebook. "I went around the back to open the hatch to see what it was, as I got to the back of my car I saw a huge gapping hole. A bullet hole. Fired at pretty close range. There was a bullet rolling around in the back of my car."

Related: Camper Found Shot To Death In Tent With Daughters, 2 And 4

Tatangelo said in the Facebook post that she drove back to the park, called rangers, and had them examine the bullet hole and slug. She said the rangers told her that the slug had been fired at close range into the car.

Another incident happened just days before Beaudette was shot, in which someone fired a gun at a Tesla driving along Malibu Canyon Road, Malibu community activist Cece Woods told the Los Angeles Times. Woods told the newspaper that a bullet hit the car but no one was hurt.

A third incident happened on Nov. 3, 2016, when a man who was hiking the Backbone Trail was hit by a shotgun blast while sleeping overnight in a hammock in Tapia Park about 200 yards from Malibu Canyon Road. James Rogers needed surgery to remove all of the pellets that hit him, he told the Los Angeles Times.

Detectives have worked with state park officials and other agencies over the last few days to "compare any similar shooting incidents" that have occurred within the state park, according to a Sheriff's Department spokeswoman.

Authorities had no evidence to connect any of the prior shootings to Beaudette’s death, but they can't rule out potential links, L.A. County sheriff’s Lt. Rodney Moore told Los Angeles Times. Law enforcement experts said it's difficult to determine whether these random shootings within the area are connected to each other, according to the newspaper.

A fundraiser has also been set up for the Beaudette family while they recover from their loss. For more information or to donate to the Go Fund Me page, click here.

City News Service contributed to this post; Go Fund Me is a Patch promotional partner; Images courtesy of the Go Fund Me