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Posted on 11/24/2002 4:43:17 PM PST by Neil E. Wright
Edited on 11/25/2002 12:26:39 PM PST by Jim Robinson. [history]
First follow up article is from the Red Bluff Daily News:
STUDENTS EXPRESS LOVE FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT
By MARTI TAYLOR-DN Staff Writer
Students from Red Bluff High School joined in downtown Red Bluff today to show support and compassion to local law enforcement following the tragic death of Red Bluff Police Officer David Mobilio earlier this week.
Students from the sophomore leadership classes, student government and peer partners organized the event that included leaving fresh flowers on the bell outside the police department, as well as congregating on the four corners of Main Street, Oak Street and Antelope Boulevard. The carnations were a donation from the Gazebo Floral and Gift Shoppe in Red Bluff.
Those involved carried signs supporting all local branches of law enforcement and event wore buttons that read RBHS loves RBPD and CHP. The buttons were a, "symbolic gesture with a heart surrounding the green and gold writing."
"The kids wanted a way that they could show their support and love to the law enforcement of Tehama County, this is what they came up with," said Cindy Haase.
Several officials also attended the gathering including RBHS principal Patrick Gleason, RBUHS Superintendent Kathy Wheeler and Red Bluff City Council member Larry Stevens. Stevens thanked several organizers of the event for the positive display of solidarity towards the officers that protect Tehama County.
Haase also remembered Mobilio on a personal level, as a family friend. "This is such a tragic and horrible thing to happen, especially in Red Bluff." said Haase. "Dave was a fun, caring and generous man. I am truly saddened by his loss as is my entire family."
When asked what Mobilio would have thought of the outpouring of affection, Haase said that he would have liked being remembered as a, "wonderful, giving and fun friend."
"I don't think Dave would have wanted us to sit around being sad for him. He would have wanted us to catch whoever did this and we that's where we need to focus our energy," said Haase.
Students also spent another day of mourning at the Butte College campus in Chico. Flags at the college have been flying at half mast on the campus since the incident. Mobilio was a, fall 1995, graduate of the 91st basic law enforcement academy offered at the college.
Lisa DeLaby a representative of the program said that students in the program have been in shock since hearing the news. "They just can't believe that one of their own is gone," said DeLaby.
Residents are still being asked to replace their porch or outside lights with blue bulbs as a symbol of support to Tehama County law enforcement and to the Mobilio family. Blue bulbs can be purchased at most hardware, home improvement stores and some grocery stores.
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The second followup is from the RBPD website:
The Red Bluff Police Department is seeking the Public's assistance in identifying the individual in the attached drawing. Investigator's are interested in talking to this individual who was seen in the area where Office Mobilio was killed. We are seeking any information as to the identity of this person. He is wanted only as a witness at this time and is not considered a suspect. Persons having information can call a toll free tip line at (800) 500-8944. Tips and information may also be left on this web site.
Dave Mobilio, 31, was shot and killed about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday November 19th, 2002 after he stopped to refuel his patrol car at a north Red Bluff gas station.
Officials posted $42,000 in reward money for the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible.
I am very sorry to hear of the loss of this young law enforcement officer and mourn with and pray for his family. I pray God in Heaven will rest his soul and comfort his loved ones and help bring justice to the criminal.
I have spent quite a bit of time in that general area. My wife's mother's family is from Gridley and we used to go there every year for their family re-unions. Good, salt of the earth people.
I hope they get to talk to this POI soon. I hope if he is the perp, or for whomever is the perp, that they catch, prosecute, convict and execute soon.
I found the one sentence in the other article odd where they indicated that the officer's weapon was found near him but could not tell if it had been used or not. Seemed it would be a fairly straight forward deduction as to hether it had been fired.
FYI all ... please read and be on the lookout. This individual needs to be spoken to about the murder of a fine officer.
Officer Mobilio apparently saw what was about to happen and had time to draw his weapon. He did NOT get a chance to fire it before he was killed. His weapon was not fired when they found it, 3 feet from his body.
I'm guessing that the initial report that they could not determine if it was fired or not was apparently because the investigators left it where it was found while they were processing the crime scene. Once the entire crime scene was processed for evidence, they examined the weapon and determined that it had not been fired. According to investigators, they DID recover quite a bit of evidence from the scene. Hopefully, they will be able to identify this POI soon, and pick him up for questioning.
More on the POI: The witness, who authorities stressed is not a suspect, is a white male in his early 20s, wearing a beanie and driving a brown or tan Oldsmobile Achieva, about seven to 10 years old, authorities said. A California Highway Patrol officer who spotted the car recorded the California license number as 3GNK307 (MY NOTE: the lic. number is similar to this to but one number is different), but Department of Motor Vehicles records show those numbers, in that sequence, are invalid.
Please keep this bumped. Let's identify this POI and find the vehicle.
Toward FREEDOM
Hopefully the evidence they found at the scene will help ... with a near match on the license plate and the description, I hope they make progress quickly.
BUMP again.
More on the POI: The witness, who authorities stressed is not a suspect, is a white male in his early 20s, wearing a beanie and driving a brown or tan Oldsmobile Achieva, about seven to 10 years old, authorities said. A California Highway Patrol officer who spotted the car recorded the California license number as 3GNK307 (MY NOTE: the lic. number is similar to this to but one number is different), but Department of Motor Vehicles records show those numbers, in that sequence, are invalid.
Please keep this bumped. Let's identify this POI and find the vehicle.
ARTIST SKETCH OF WITNESS SOUGHT BY POLICE:
"This weekend a young police officer, a father and a husband, was gunned down and killed in Red Bluff.
There is now a West Coast alert out for a witness to this murder. The description of the witness and his vehicle is below.
Please send a copy of this to all of your email friends/relatives on the West Coast.
The witness, who authorities stressed is not a suspect, is a white male in his early 20s, wearing a beanie and driving a brown or tan Oldsmobile Achieva, about seven to 10 years old, authorities said. A California Highway Patrol officer who spotted the car recorded the California license number as 3GNK307 (The lic. number is similar to this to but one number is different), but Department of Motor Vehicles records show those numbers, in that sequence, are invalid.
ARTIST SKETCH OF WITNESS SOUGHT BY POLICE:
bttt
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