Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Deputies Search for 18-Year-Old After Ghost-Rifle Gunfire Near Poway Homes

Deputies report securing an unserialized assault rifle, leading them to assess no ongoing threat to the public.

Overview

  • Several callers reported shots around 1 p.m. Tuesday in a field near Hidden Valley Drive and Birch Lane, an area investigators said is near the suspect’s grandmother’s home.
  • Deputies said they contacted Cameron Johnson, 18, who was wearing military-style fatigues, before he ran into dense vegetation and was not found despite searches using the ASTREA helicopter and K-9 units.
  • Officials said the recovered weapon was an unserialized assault rifle commonly referred to as a ghost gun, and a warrant search of Johnson’s home turned up ghost-gun parts and body armor.
  • Johnson is wanted on suspicion of negligent discharge of a firearm, possession of an unserialized assault rifle, and violating a Gun Violence Restraining Order.
  • Deputies reported seeing him return to the field around 10 p.m. before clearing the scene by about 4 a.m., and they asked anyone with information to contact the Sheriff’s Office; no injuries were reported and past calls to the address did not involve gunfire.