DEPUTIES FIND CRIME SCENE NEAR POT CAMPSITE WHERE FATHER, SON SHOT

PLACERVILLE -- Investigators looking into the shooting of a Galt-area man
and his son during a hunting outing pinpointed the spot where the incident
occurred Tuesday and found the weapon they believe was used in the shooting.

El Dorado County sheriff's deputies Tuesday located a 12-gauge shotgun
believed to be used in the shooting of William Hunt, 43, and his 8-year-old
son, Matthew.

The two were shot while out deer hunting Sunday morning on family property
20 miles east of Georgetown.

Investigators also found a .307-caliber hunting rifle that William Hunt had
been using and a BB gun that Matthew had been carrying.

Although deputies found the weapon and the spot where the shootings
occurred, they did not locate two men who helped the Hunts back to their
truck after the shootings. Sheriff's Sgt. Marc Adams said the two are
believed to be involved in a large-scale marijuana-growing operation
discovered by authorities looking into the shootings.

The two men, one in his 60s and one in his 40s, had appeared at a truck
belonging to the victims and had helped William Hunt's brother, Donald,
disconnect a motorcycle trailer from the back of the Hunts' truck so he
could get help.

Adams wouldn't call the two men suspects in the shooting, "but they're
considered to be part of the marijuana-growing operation."

The two men disappeared after Donald Hunt drove his brother and his nephew
out of the steep, rugged terrain to Wentworth Springs Road to get help.

William Hunt remained in serious condition Tuesday at Sutter Roseville
Medical Center. Matthew Hunt was in critical condition at the University of
California, Davis, Medical Center in Sacramento.

Originally, officers investigating the shootings found what they believed
was a small marijuana grow site in the vicinity.

But Tuesday, Adams said that small grow site was actually part of a larger
garden that had a campsite complete with a tent, cooking supplies, clothes
and other items that indicated someone had been living there recently.

The shooting took place about 100 yards south of the campsite and garden,
Adams said.

Authorities Tuesday found 1,250 plants that had been harvested but not yet
processed.

Adams, who called the growing operation a large one by county standards,
said it would not be unusual for someone tending a garden of that size to
be armed.

"But it's unusual for them to use the gun against someone coming into the
garden," he said. "We've not had that happen."

Mike Van Winkle, a state Justice Department spokesman, said only one
shooting had occurred during a marijuana raid this year and that was in
Madera County, where a guard was shot and killed by agents after he fired
on them first.

The Hunt shootings occurred about 10:20 a.m. Sunday. William and Matthew
Hunt had spent Saturday night with William Hunt's 4-year-old son and Donald
Hunt at a cabin on the family's 330-acre property.

They set out to go deer hunting Sunday morning, with Donald Hunt going in
one direction and the other three Hunts going off in a different direction.
Some time later, Donald Hunt heard a truck horn blaring, and when it didn't
stop, he went to the truck and found his injured brother and nephew.

To reach Lode Bureau Chief Francis P. Garland, phone 736-9554 or e-mail
garnel@goldrush.com