Man who shot at officer charged charged with killing girlfriend
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News from Lake County Sheriff’s Office
POLSON — The man who was arrested for shooting at a Polson Police Officer on February 14, 49-year-old, Cameron Francis of Gridley, California, has been charged with deliberate homicide. Following the attempted homicide of the officer, Francis’s girlfriend, 48-year-old, Kimberly Goodson was found deceased in her home in Polson.
An autopsy performed at the State Medical Examiner’s Office revealed that Goodson had been shot. Evidence gathered indicates that Francis killed Goodson shortly before fleeing the home and traveling northbound on Hwy 93 where Polson Police Officer Michael Wharton encountered him and attempted to stop him because he had no taillights.
Wharton came under fire as he radioed his status after the vehicle pulled over just north of Rocky Point Road. According to court documents, the driver leaned out of his window and fired approximately 20 shots at the officer’s vehicle and then 7 more as he drove away. Wharton attempted to pursue, but his vehicle overheated and became inoperable.
About 30 minutes later a citizen reported a man acting odd in the Elmo area. Responding officers located the vehicle Wharton had attempted to stop and a set of footprints in the snow that led to a man lying face down, surrendering. He allegedly told officers that the vehicle was registered to his girlfriend who he’d been staying with for a few weeks and “you’ll figure it all out from here.” While being processed for gunshot residue at the Lake County Jail, he also allegedly stated he had shot a few people a few times before.
A 5.56 NATO military style rifle with a 60-round barrel drum magazine, red dot sight and no serial number was located in vehicle. A large plastic tub containing hundreds of rounds of armor piercing ammunition was also discovered in the vehicle.
After the arrest made local news, Kimberly Goodson’s son contacted law enforcement on Feb. 16 to tell officers he was concerned about his mother’s welfare. He said this his mother was in an abusive relationship with Cameron Francis and that he had not heard from her since Feb. 14. Upon conducting a welfare check, Goodson was found deceased. Officers noted signs of a struggle and large amounts of the same type of ammunition that had been recovered from the vehicle involved in the attempted officer shooting. An autopsy revealed Goodson died from a single gunshot wound to her face.
Court documents state that the vehicle from the officer involved shooting was shown driving away from Goodson’s residence just minutes before the traffic stop. “The Defendant shot his girlfriend in the face with a military style ghost gun, armor piercing ammunition, and a high-capacity magazine, stole her car, and them ambushed Officer Wharton on a traffic stop while trying to flee the original homicide scene,” charging documents state.
The cases remain under investigation by the Lake County Sheriff and Coroner’s Office with support from Polson Police. Francis, who has a lengthy criminal history, including several felony convictions and numerous parole revocations, is being held in the Lake County Jail with bond set at $5 million. He is being charged with deliberate homicide and attempted deliberate homicide.
In a press release about the incident, Lake County Sheriff Don Bell states, “We are thankful the officer was uninjured in this event, and the Sheriff’s Office extends our condolences to the family of Kimberly Goodson.”
