WILLITS SHOOTERS AFTER MEDICAL MARIJUANA

The men who broke into a Willits residence Tuesday and shot two of the
residents apparently were after medical marijuana being grown at the home.

"Medical marijuana was the object" of the home invasion, said Willits
Police Sgt. Mike Scofield.

He would not say how many plants were being grown at the home, only that
two small plants were taken from the backyard.

Scofield also would not say whether the victims knew the suspects.

There reportedly were at least four, and possibly five suspects involved,
he said.

On Tuesday, two of the suspects were described as being black and between
the ages of 18 and 25. Since then, it's been determined there were at least
two others of similar ages involved, Scofield said.

The suspects are considered armed and dangerous, he warned.

They reportedly broke into the home at 64 Franklin Avenue at around 7:30
a.m. Tuesday.

In the process of the robbery, William Leland White, 46, suffered gunshot
wounds to the stomach and chest. He was transported by Calstar to Santa
Rosa Hospital. Scofield said he was believed to be in good condition as of
Wednesday afternoon.

Brenda Sue White, 46, was shot in the leg. She was taken to Howard Memorial
Hospital for treatment. A third victim, Claude Thomas Huffman, also 46,
suffered facial lacerations over his eye. He was treated and released from
Howard Memorial Hospital.

Scofield said it was the first home-invasion robbery for medical marijuana
in the city limits. He said he's surprised the suspects didn't instead rob
one of the many larger gardens located outside city limits.

"It's odd," he said. "We certainly have many medical marijuana plants
stolen from time to time, but certainly no one's been shot because of it in
the city."

"That's just downright frightening," Scofield said of the shootings.

While surprising, the potential for violence involving medical marijuana is
certainly present, he said.

"I foresee this getting worse" because it's a valuable commodity, Scofield
said, adding that it's as risky as keeping gold bars in one's home.

Sheriff's Capt. Kevin Broin has long worried about the potential violence
that could come with openly growing medical marijuana. And the risk is even
higher when the plants are in city backyards.

"With the amount of money some of these plants are worth, it could be a
public safety issue," Broin said.

He said cities might want to consider ordinances about openly growing
marijuana within their limits because neighbors and others can easily spot
the plants.

It's better grown in the country, where it's not as obvious, Broin said.

"Maybe the cities might want to look at that because the residences are so
close together," he said.

The Sheriff's Office has had at least a couple of incidents involving theft
of medical marijuana, including an armed home invasion north of Willits
last year.

Over the years, there also have been a number of homicides linked to
illegal marijuana production.

"I think anybody who's lived in this county has seen the violence of
marijuana grow operations. That's no secret," Broin said.

Scofield agrees both legal and illegal marijuana production is dangerous,
but doesn't think the cities can pass ordinances banning production in
their limits because it's legal in California.

Willits police have yet to locate the suspects in this case, but they do
have some leads.

With the help of Department of Justice labs, they've also recovered
fingerprints, blood probably belonging to the victims and bullet casings at
the scene, Scofield said.

He declined to release further information about the case, saying he was
concerned about the safety of the victims.