2001 Nevada County shootings

Did You Know?

• Thorpe was born on April 1, 1960.
• Laura's Law allows court-ordered assisted outpatient treatment for people with serious mental illness and a recent history of hospitalization, jailings, or violent behavior.
• Mike Markle had a five-year-old daughter and a son nearly three years old at the time of his death.

Shootings

Just before 11:30 a.m. on January 10, 2001, Scott Harlan Thorpe entered the Nevada County Department of Behavioral Health in Nevada City. He was a client of the clinic, suffering from paranoia and agoraphobia, and was unhappy with his care. Armed with a 9mm Ruger semi-automatic pistol, he fired through a glass panel, killing temporary receptionist Laura Wilcox, a 19-year-old college student working during winter break. He then fatally shot 68-year-old Pearlie Mae Feldman, a mental health caregiver.

Another person was shot three times, sustaining injuries to the head, lungs, esophagus, and right shoulder; a fourth person jumped from a window to escape, suffering a broken pelvis and other injuries. Thorpe fled in a blue van and drove three miles to Lyon's Restaurant in Grass Valley. Less than ten minutes later, he entered the restaurant and fatally shot manager Mike Markle, 24, who had started work there days earlier and had two young children. Thorpe also shot the cook seven times, wounding him in the stomach and arms, then fled.

Aftermath

Thorpe returned to his home in Smartsville, where he lived alone. He called his brother, a Sacramento County sheriff's deputy, and confessed. His brother notified Nevada County authorities and assisted in the apprehension. Thorpe surrendered peacefully after a three-hour standoff around 9 p.m. that day. He said he carried out the shootings because he was unhappy with his clinic care and believed the restaurant had been poisoning him. Found incompetent to stand trial, he was declared not guilty by reason of insanity and initially sent to Atascadero State Hospital, later transferred to Napa State Hospital.