A 15-year-old boy was finally able to get through to rescuers with just 1 per cent battery power on his phone before he spent more than 30 hours in a Sierra Nevada forest after a gunman killed his father during an Independence Day trip and wounded two others in separate attacks, authorities said.
Dr Ari Gershman, 45, of Danville, was shot Friday while off-roading in a new four-wheel drive Jeep with his son, Jack, near Downieville, according to a GoFundMe page set up for the family. Downieville is northeast of Sacramento and west of Reno, Nevada.
Jack fled and called police to say he was lost, according to the Sierra County Sheriff’s Office. He was found in good condition on July 4 in Tahoe National Forest.
Jack had been alone in the forest for more than 30 hours, according to the GoFundMe page.
Jack Gershman, 15, was finally able to get through to rescuers with just 1% battery power on his phone before he spent more than 30 hours in a Sierra Nevada forest after a gunman killed his father, Dr Ari Gershman (pictured with family) and wounded two others in separate attacks
Jack (pictured with siblings) fled and called police to say he was lost, according to the Sierra County Sheriff’s Office
According to a family member, Jack called 911 before calling his mother, Paige around 5.30pm. During the call, Jack told his mother: ‘Dad’s been shot and I think he’s dead and I’m running away, uphill and I don’t know where I am’
Jack then explained that it had taken him an hour to climb to find signal for his cell phone, which was only at 1 per cent battery power when he made the call. Jack was found in good condition on July 4 in Tahoe National Forest (file image)
Gershman’s cousin, Marlo Meyers-Barer, told the San Francisco Chronicle, that the suspect was driving an ATV when he pulled up behind Gershman and Jack to ask for directions.
Meyers-Barer also wrote on social media that the man started shooting ‘out of nowhere’
‘Ari stepped on the gas to get out of harms way, but one of the shots ripped through the seat and hit him. He was able to get the Jeep stopped so Jack was able to run into the forest to hide,’ Meyers-Barer said.
According to Meyes-Barer, Jack called 911 before calling his mother, Paige around 5.30pm.
During the call, Jack told his mother: ‘Dad’s been shot and I think he’s dead and I’m running away, uphill and I don’t know where I am.’
Jack then explained that it had taken him an hour to climb to find signal for his cell phone, which was only at 1 per cent battery power when he made the call.
In addition to his son, Gershman is survived by two other children, Evan, 16, and Maci, 10, and by his wife, Paige (pictured together), who is undergoing chemotherapy for cancer, according to the GoFundMe page
Gershman ‘was an avid bicyclist, a vegetarian, an outdoorsman, an internal medicine doctor, a devoted and loving father and fantastic friend that was willing to drop anything for his friends and family,’ according to the GoFundMe page
The suspect was arrested on Saturday after a chase. His name wasn’t immediately released.
Shortly after finding the boy, authorities spotted the suspect in an all-terrain vehicle, chased and stopped him, the sheriff’s office said.
The same man is believed to have shot two other people during a separate attack in the same area on Friday.
They were hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries, the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post.
There was no immediate word on a motive for the shootings.
Gershman ‘was an avid bicyclist, a vegetarian, an outdoorsman, an internal medicine doctor, a devoted and loving father and fantastic friend that was willing to drop anything for his friends and family,’ according to the GoFundMe page.
‘He was witty and wise. He died doing what he loved with his son in an area he had hoped to retire in one day.’
In addition to his son, Gershman is survived by two other children, Evan, 16, and Maci, 10, and by his wife, Paige, who is undergoing chemotherapy for cancer, according to the GoFundMe page.