SUSPECTS ARESTED IN FATHER-SON SHOOTING

Two men were arrested in connection with Sunday's shooting of a father and
his son while they were hunting on their property just a few miles across
the Placer County line, El Dorado County Sheriff's investigators said
Wednesday.

Late Tuesday sheriff's detectives arrested Mario Arriaga Lopez, 40, at his
home in Clarksburg in Yolo County without incident, sheriff's Sgt. Hal Lamb
said. He was booked without bail at El Dorado County jail on suspicion of
being an accessory to a crime.

Then early Wednesday, detectives arrested Lopez's father, Luis Lopez
Arriaga, 70, at a relative's home in Sunnyvale. He was held without bail on
two counts of attempted murder at Santa Clara County Jail, the sergeant said.

Detectives believe the older man fired two shotgun blasts .00-gauge
buckshot that struck and seriously wounded William and Matthew Hunt as the
pair hunted on their 500-acre property near Georgetown Sunday morning.

Lamb said Lopez was visiting his father, who was guarding a suspected
marijuana cultivation operation in the area.

"Luis (the elder man) was guarding the marijuana and these people walked on
the property and he shot them," Lamb said. "From all appearances, there was
no warning and they (the Hunts) may not even have known what they walked into."

Herald resident William Hunt, 43, was shot in the chest and his son,
Matthew, 8, was shot in his face, sheriff's officials said. On Wednesday
the father was in serious condition but improving at Sutter Roseville
Medical Center, Lamb said, and his son was still critical at UC Davis
Medical Center.

Lamb said detectives were still investigating who operated the marijuana
operation.

On Tuesday, sheriff's detectives reported finding 1,250 harvested marijuana
plants near the scene and they also recovered Hunt's deer rifle and his
son's BB gun, along with the shotgun believed used to wound the Hunts.
Officials say the Hunt family was not suspected in the alleged pot operation.

The Associated Press reported Wednesday an anonymous source told
investigators that the alleged gunman's family was trying to send Arriaga
back to his native Mexico to avoid arrest.

Today investigators planned to interview William Hunt, Lamb said.