Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station officials responded Tuesday afternoon to a report of a suicide at the Oak Tree Gun Club.
L.A. County Fire Department officials reported that paramedics were dispatched to the 23100 block of Coltrane Avenue, where the club is located, regarding “an (emergency medical services) call,” according to Kaitlyn Aldana, who said she could not release any additional information about the call.
An L.A. County Sheriff’s Department official confirmed on background that the person was deceased and the investigation is now expected to be handled by Homicide Bureau detectives, who had yet to arrive on the scene as of 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
SCV Sheriff’s Station deputies were at the location as of 3:30 p.m. investigating what had happened, according to Sgt. Josh Nemeth, who said at the time there was no additional information available other than an attempted suicide was reported at the location.
Fire Department personnel were dispatched at 3:02 p.m. and on the scene at 3:11 p.m., Aldana said. Fire personnel had left by 3:30 p.m.
The status of any medical patient was not available as of this story’s publication.
Betsy James, who manages the club, was not immediately available Tuesday.
James has worked for years in an effort to reduce suicides at gun clubs, both hers and others, through the promotion of work done by the Santa Clarita Valley Suicide Prevention, Postvention and Wellness Committee, specifically a harm-reduction subcommittee that she’s hosted at her club.
One of her features of the club is a “red-flag” system for preventing anyone who might be experiencing a crisis from accessing the range; another is a service that stores firearms for anyone who might be experiencing crisis or just has concerns about safe storage in their home.
This is a breaking news story, and more information will be added as it becomes available.
Signal Staff Writer Kamryn Martell contributed to this report.
For information on local resources, visit: BeTheDifferenceSCV.org.
