2001 Nevada County shootings
On January 10, 2001, a shooting spree took place in Nevada County, California, when 40-year-old Scott Harlan Thorpe opened fire with a 9mm Ruger semi-automatic pistol killing three people and wounding three others in two separate shootings in the Nevada County area. The victims were 19-year-old Laura Wilcox, 68-year-old Pearlie Mae Feldman, and 24-year-old Mike Markle. The shooting spree led to the implementation of Laura's Law, a California state law that allows for court-ordered assisted outpatient treatment. The law was named after Laura Wilcox, one of the victims of the shooting spree. Michael Moore's 2002 documentary film Bowling for Columbine was dedicated to Wilcox's memory.
Shootings
Just before 11:30 a.m. on January 10, 2001, 40-year-old Scott Harlan Thorpe of Sacramento walked into the Nevada County Department of Behavioral Health in Nevada City, California. Thorpe walked up to the first-floor reception counter armed with a 9mm Ruger semi-automatic pistol. Thorpe was a client of the outpatient mental health clinic and suffered from paranoia and agoraphobia. At the time, he was seeking treatment at the clinic for help with his illnesses and was undergoing monthly mental health counseling for his agoraphobia. Unhappy with the care he had been receiving, an enraged Thorpe fired through a glass panel with his gun and fatally shot the temporary receptionist, 19-year-old Laura Wilcox, a college student who was helping out at the Department of Behavioral Health during her winter break. He then shot at several other people around him, one of whom was 68-year-old Pearlie Mae Feldman, a mental health caregiver. She was fatally wounded by Thorpe. Another person was shot three times and injured in the head, lungs, esophagus, and right shoulder during the shooting, while a fourth person jumped from a window to escape the gunfire and suffered a broken pelvis and other injuries.Thorpe then fled the scene in a blue van and drove for three miles towards Lyon's Restaurant in nearby Grass Valley. Less than ten minutes later, Thorpe arrived at the restaurant and headed inside. He then fatally shot the manager, 24-year-old Mike Markle, who had begun work at the restaurant just days before. At the time of his death, Markle had a five-year-old daughter and a son who was nearly three years old. Thorpe also shot the restaurant's cook seven times, injuring him in the stomach and arms. He then fled the scene.