Case file
Rancho Tehama shootings

On the night of November 13, 2017, 44-year-old Kevin Janson Neal shot and killed his wife, 38-year-old Barbara Glisan, at their home on Bobcat Lane in the unincorporated community of Rancho Tehama, Tehama County, California, hiding her body under the floorboards. The next morning, Neal began a shooting rampage that lasted approximately 25 minutes and spanned eight separate crime scenes.
Neal first killed two neighbors, 38-year-old Danny Elliott and 68-year-old Diana Steele, with whom he had a history of conflict and whom he wrongly suspected of manufacturing methamphetamine. He then stole a pickup truck belonging to one of the victims and began firing at random vehicles and pedestrians, injuring a woman and her three sons in one attack. Neal drove the stolen truck through the gates of Rancho Tehama Elementary School, where staff had already initiated a lockdown after hearing gunfire. He fired nearly 100 rounds into the school, wounding two students, including six-year-old Alejandro Hernandez, who was shot in the chest and leg and airlifted for surgery. Neal later abandoned the rifle at the school and fled.
After leaving the school, Neal crashed the truck into another vehicle, killing the female driver and wounding her husband. He shot and wounded a passerby who had stopped to check on him, stole that person's car, and killed another person, 56-year-old Joseph McHugh III; his wife, 55-year-old Michelle McFadyen, was also killed and is described as having been randomly targeted along with McHugh. Neal also fired multiple rounds into a vehicle occupied by a man surnamed Cardenas, wounding him in the leg.
Law enforcement pursued Neal, and his stolen vehicle was rammed to a stop by a Corning Police Department officer and a Tehama County Sheriff's deputy. Neal exchanged gunfire with the officers, striking their vehicle five times without wounding them, before fatally shooting himself. In total, five people were killed and Neal died by suicide; eighteen others were injured — ten by gunfire and eight by flying glass.
At the time of the shootings, Neal was free on bail facing two felony and five misdemeanor charges stemming from a January 2017 incident in which he stabbed a neighbor and assaulted her mother-in-law. A restraining order obtained by neighbors required him to surrender his firearms; he turned over one pistol but is reported to have illegally manufactured the rifle and possessed unregistered handguns used in the attack. Sheriff's deputies had been called to Neal's home 21 times in 2016 and 2017. His motive remains unclear. The shootings prompted renewed public debate over the regulation of privately made ("homemade") firearms in the United States.
Key facts
- Victims
- Barbara Glisan, Joseph McHugh III, Alejandro Hernandez, Diana Steele, Michelle McFadyen, Danny Elliott
- Date
- 2017
- Location
- Rancho Tehama, Tehama County, California, United States
- Case status
- solved
Case timeline
2017-01-31
Kevin Janson Neal is arrested and charged with two felonies and five misdemeanors after stabbing a neighbor and assaulting her mother-in-law; he is later released on bail.
2017-11-13
Neal shoots and kills his wife, Barbara Glisan, at their Bobcat Lane home in Rancho Tehama and hides her body under the floorboards.
2017-11-14
Neal kills neighbors Danny Elliott and Diana Steele, then goes on a shooting rampage across Rancho Tehama, including an attack on Rancho Tehama Elementary School, killing Joseph McHugh III and Michelle McFadyen, before being pursued and stopped by law enforcement and dying by suicide.
2017-11-27
Rancho Tehama Elementary School reopens after being closed early for the Thanksgiving holiday break.
Best coverage
No approved coverage links are attached yet.
People
Barbara Glisan
VICTIMNeal's wife, killed at their home on November 13, 2017; body later found under floorboards.
Joseph McHugh III
VICTIMKilled during the shooting spree; police believe he was randomly targeted.
Alejandro Hernandez
VICTIMSix-year-old student shot in the chest and leg at Rancho Tehama Elementary School; survived after airlift and multiple surgeries.
Diana Steele
VICTIMNeighbor of Neal, killed on November 14, 2017.
Michelle McFadyen
VICTIMKilled during the shooting spree; police believe she was randomly targeted.
Danny Elliott
VICTIMNeighbor of Neal, killed on November 14, 2017.
Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.
Places
Common questions
- What happened to the victim?
- On November 13–14, 2017, a gunman killed five people and wounded eighteen others across eight crime scenes in the rural community of Rancho Tehama, California, including at an elementary school, before dying by suicide after his stolen vehicle was rammed by law enforcement.
- Where did the shootings happen?
- Rancho Tehama, Tehama County, California, United States.
- What is the current status of the case?
- Status: solved.
Sources
- ENCYCLOPEDICRancho Tehama shootingsWikipedia · 2026-07-10
- PRESSContemporaneous coverage — Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles Times · 2026-07-10
- PRESSContemporaneous coverage — CBS NewsCBS News · 2026-07-10



