Rufino Gonzalez, 72, was shot and killed on the morning of March 1, 2022, in Monte Rio, California. Deputies and emergency medical crews attempted life-saving measures but he died at the scene. Multiple calls came into the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office around 10:20 a.m. reporting a shooting and a man with a long gun near Alder Road and Willow Road, just south of the Russian River.

The suspect was identified as Rufino’s son, 32-year-old Francisco Gonzalez, who fled before deputies arrived. A shelter-in-place order was issued for the area east of Bohemian Highway and parts south and east of the river while deputies, a SWAT team, negotiators, drones, and a CHP helicopter searched. Francisco was later found and arrested without incident near Green Valley Road, about eight miles from the scene, and booked on murder and weapons-related charges.

If anyone has information about the events around Alder Road and Willow Road that morning, or knew Rufino or his family, please share what you remember.