Thursday, February 16, 2023

BARE FEAR VERSUS REASONABLE FEAR

By Bob Walsh

 

Robert Somerville appears in Department 8B o the San Joaquin County Courthouse in downtown Stockton for an arraignment on charges of the shooting and killing Stockton Fire captain Max Fortuna while he was battling a blaze in downtown Stockton. CLIFFORD OTO/THE STOCKTON RECORD FILE PHOTO 2022

                                                 Robert Sommerville

 

I actually know a little bit about this case.  The now-convicted klller, Robert Sommerville, 68, and I have some acquaintances in common.  When I first heard this story I assumed that the shooter was a street crazy.  I am assured by those who knew him that this was not so.  However, he cleared made a very bad judgement call which is costing him dearly.

On January 31 of 2022 Fire Captain Max Fortuna, 47, was in an official vehicle, in uniform, responding to a dumpster fire near a building owned by Sommerville.  Sommerville shot and killed him, allegedly mistaking him for a criminal attempting to forcibly enter his property.  Sommerville has just been found guilty of murder in the killing.  He has been held without bail due to issues he has had in the past with showing up for court multiple times for DUI charges.

He will be sentenced on April 10. 

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