Deputies seek help to identify armed suspect who left threatening note at Live Oak home
SUTTER COUNTY - Deputies are asking for help identifying an armed suspect who was captured on a surveillance camera outside of a Live Oak home Monday night.
The Sutter County Sheriff's Office received a report that someone was at the front door of a home on N Street just off Highway 99 around 7:30 p.m. Deputies say he was armed with a gun.
The Ring camera footage shows a man pulling the firearm from his pocket and using the tactical light on the gun as a flashlight, deputies said.
"For him to be so confident to walk up to the house with the gun in his hand, it almost looked like he tried to open the door. It's terrifying," said the mother who lives at the home targeted.
The family spoke with CBS13 under the condition their identity is not revealed.
The man then left a terrifying note on the front porch that threatened the family before walking off.
"It was a warning to a family that wasn't ours," the mother said.
"Something bad could have happened to me," said the mother's teenage daughter, who was home with another sibling at the time. "I was grateful I didn't open the door one second sooner, that he didn't hear me."
The family could not identify the suspect and told deputies they had received no prior threats to their family.
"It just doesn't make any sense at all," the mother said.
While they do not believe this threat was intended for them, they fear the suspect could return.
"Now this is out there, what if they come back as payback or something?" the mother asked, choosing to speak out to make others aware.
The frightening scene also has neighbors shaken up.
"A man with a gun walking up to the door? That's just crazy," next-door neighbor Kathy Curnutte said. "And this is a quiet neighborhood."
"He meant serious stuff. A guy doesn't bring out a gun like that if he isn't going to hurt somebody," neighbor Jose Salazar said.
The calm, normally peaceful community is vowing to keep a closer eye on their surroundings and each other.
"Now we're going to be really focused on neighborhood watch here," Salazar said.
"Keep the doors locked. Keep the gun loaded. That's all you can do," Curnutte said.
The mother at the targeted home says, in addition to being more alert, she's adding more cameras.
"I bought two more. My brother bought an extra one. We are going to cut down the trees to be visible from the street so we can see," the mother said.
Deputies want to speak with the man captured in the video. Anyone with information is asked to call the Sutter County Sheriff's Office at (530) 822-7307.