Search for missing hiker suspended with gunman at large

WASHINGTON, Calif. – The Latest on the shooting of a rescuer in Northern California (all times local):

10:42 a.m.

The search for a missing hiker is on hold while Northern California authorities try to find a gunman who shot a volunteer rescuer.

Donna Nelson, assistant to Nevada County Sheriff Keith Royal, said Wednesday that the search for the 75-year-old hiker was suspended over safety concerns with a gunman on the loose.

The suspect shot and wounded a volunteer rescuer in the hip Tuesday. The rescuer, whose name has not been released, is in stable condition.

Royal told the Sacramento Bee (http://bit.ly/2aK8mFz ) that helicopter crews are attempting to locate the shooter with heat-detecting devices.

The hiker has been missing for five days and is not believed to have any involvement in the shooting.

Searchers were looking for the hiker along the South Yuba River near the rural town of Washington, about 75 miles west of Reno, Nevada, when the shooting occurred.

A motive in the shooting was not known.

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7:15 a.m.

A volunteer rescuer who was shot in the hip while searching for a missing 75-year-old man in a remote Northern California area is in stable condition Wednesday.

The Sacramento Bee reports (http://bit.ly/2aK8mFz ) that crews worked late Tuesday to bring him to a site where a rescue helicopter could land. The volunteer’s name and age were not released.

Three volunteers with the Placer County Search and Rescue team were among several groups looking for the older man reported missing along the South Yuba River near the rural town of Washington, about 75 miles west of Reno, Nevada, when the shooting occurred.

The gunman remains at large. The older man remains missing and is not believed to have any involvement in the shooting. A motive in the shooting was not known.