| 1965 Highway 101 sniper attack | |
|---|---|
| Location | Santa Maria, California, United States |
| Date | April 25, 1965 |
| Weapon(s) | Rifle |
| Deaths | 4 (including the perpetrator) |
| Injured | 10 |
| Perpetrator | Michael Andrew Clark |
Early on the Sunday morning of April 25, 1965, cars traveling along Highway 101 just south of Orcutt, California were hit by gunfire from a nearby hilltop. These were the first shots fired by teenage sniper Michael Clark, who would kill three that day.
Late on the night of April 24, 1965 Michael Andrew Clark, a seemingly normal 16-year old boy living in Long Beach, California had left home in his parents' car, without their permission. In the back of the car, he had a Swedish Mauser military rifle equipped with telescopic sight and a pistol he had removed from his father's locked gun safe along with a large quantity of ammunition. Early the next Sunday morning, he climbed to the top of a hill overlooking a stretch of US Highway 101, just south of Orcutt, California. As the sun came up Clark began shooting at automobiles driving down the 101 highway.[1][2][3]
Two were killed and six more wounded as the shooting continued for hours before Santa Barbara County sheriff deputies rushed the hill and Clark committed suicide as they closed in.[4][5] A five year old boy wounded in the head died a day later of his wound bringing the total to three dead for the rampage.[6]
Reportedly the two men killed at the scene of the shooting were attempting to assist others who were trapped in a vehicle which had been hit by the gunfire.[7]
A lawsuit was eventually brought to the courts by victims William, Lucille, and Kim Reida, complaining that parents Forest and Joyce Clark were negligent in two counts: “failure of the Clarks to train, control, and supervise son Michael” and also, “failure of Forest Clark to keep the rifle out of Michael’s hands. The case was decided in favor of the Clarks and generally upheld on appeal, although the appeals court found negligence on the part of father Forest Clark for not adequately securing the weapons.[8]