It was early Saturday morning, about 1:35a.m., when Susanville police officers were dispatched to a residence in the 500 block of Wildwood Way, on a report of shots fired.
According to details released this weekend by the Susanville Police Department, officers located an unresponsive male in the entryway of the residence, suffering from an apparent gunshot wound to the torso.
The man, identified as 36 year-old Susanville resident Jason Theodore Hamel, was transported initially to Banner Lassen Medical Center via SEMSA Ambulance, and subsequently airlifted to Renown Medical Center in Reno.
The police report says that Hamel ultimately succumbed to his injuries and died Saturday morning.
During the course of the initial investigation, according to Police Chief Tom Downing, officers learned that Hamel and another subject identified as 23 year-old Susanville resident Darreck Gene Bloem may have had an altercation at the Diamond Mountain Casino earlier in the evening.
For reasons unknown at this time, the report continues, Hamel came to Bloem’s residence and another altercation ensued, resulting in Hamel being shot.
Bloem was arrested and booked into the Lassen County Adult Detention Facility on the charges of murder (PC 187) and the use of a firearm in the course of a crime (PC 12022.53). He will be held on $600,000.00 bail.
The police department was assisted at the scene by officers from the California Highway Patrol and the Lassen County Sheriff’s Office. Chief Downing notes that their help was, ‘greatly appreciated.’
The department is only in the early stages of the investigation and asks that if anyone has any information about this incident, they contact the Susanville Police Department through their 24 hour dispatch line at 530.257.2171.
