Man Scares Neighbors With Gunfire

Angels Camp, CA — An Angels Camp man admits to firing a shotgun in his neighborhood around 10:45 p.m. Tuesday.

Police say officers were out on another call near Mark Twain Road and South Main Street when they heard a single shot of gunfire. As officers investigated further, they found several residents standing outside their homes on 700 block of Mark Twain Road. One pointed them towards the residence of 48-year-old Bret Smith. Police say they subsequently questioned Smith about the gunfire and eventually admitted he fired the shot.

According to police, Smith told the officers that he had walked out of his house with a 12-gauge shotgun and fired a single round into the air, and then turned around and went back inside the home. Smith was arrested for negligent discharge of a firearm, according officers, based on the “close proximity of other residents in the area,” and then booked into the Calaveras County Jail.