By Dale Kasler
dkasler@sacbe.com
A manhunt was under way this evening in a rugged area of Mendocino County for a transient wanted in the shooting death of a longtime Fort Bragg city councilman.
The sheriff's department identified the gunman as Aaron Bassler, a Fort Bragg transient.
City Councilman Jere Melo, a former mayor, was gunned down Saturday morning as he walked on timber land owned by his employer, about four miles east of Fort Bragg and adjacent to the popular Skunk Train.
Melo and another man were walking through the area when they stumbled across the gunman, who began shooting. The other man was able to escape unharmed. Passengers on the Skunk train heard shots fired, according to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat.
The gunman was living in a compound on the property and was growing marijuana, a source told the Press Democrat.
Melo, 69, was a Mount Shasta native who attended the University of California, Davis. He moved to the Fort Bragg area in 1966 and was first elected to the City Council in 1996.
"He was someone who did an incredible amount of work for his community," said fellow Councilman Doug Hammerstrom in a phone interview this evening. "The whole community loved Jere."
The sheriff's department said its SWAT team had been deployed to the area. Bassler is considered armed and dangerous.
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.