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Boys who survived shooting believed dead in California boating accident

Online Niel November 9, 2024

A Northern California family that survived a 2017 mass shootings now faces a fatal boating accident in the small coastal town of Bodega Bay.

Six boaters – three adults and three children – who had gone crabbing off the coast of Bodega Bay aboard a 21-foot white Bayliner boat, were reported missing around 10:20 p.m. on Nov. 2 after failed to return to shore in Sonoma County, north of San Francisco, the county sheriff confirmed.

Among the sailors was 17-year-old Johnny Phommathep II, whose body washed ashore the next day. His younger brother Jake, 14, and their father Johnny, 41, are presumed lost at sea.

The family is from Tehama County, about 180 miles north of Sonoma.

Tiffany Phommathep II, the boys’ mother, said her strength amid the tragedy comes from her husband, whom she called a “great, great father,” according to the local station. KTVU-TV. Johnny Phommathep Sr. served in Iraq with the US Air Force and works as a volunteer firefighter.

She explained that the situation is beyond painful because her sons survived gunshot wounds seven years ago during a 2017 mass shooting in Rancho Tehama.

“They’ve been through so much, both my sons Johnny and Jake,” Tiffany told KTVU-TV. “Already a tragedy. They did that one just to come here.”

Five killed in 2017, including gunman’s wife

In November 2017, gunman Kevin Janson Neal killed five people and wounded 14 others in the rural community of Rancho Tehama in Tehama County before taking his own life. The shootings took place at seven different locations in the area.

The first of the victims was Neal’s wife, who was murdered at home and whose body was hidden in a hole Neal cut in the floor.

Tiffany Phommathep was hit by bullets while in her truckalong with his two sons Johnny Phommathep Jr. and Jake Phommathep, who were 10 and 7 at the time. Her then-2-year-old son Niko was injured by flying glass that day, according to the Redding Record Searchlight, part of the USA TODAY Network.

Johnny Phommathep Sr., who is believed to have been lost at sea with his son Jake, previously detailed the traumatic experience for Record Searchlight in 2017. The Army veteran said Tiffany was temporarily unconscious before she sustained her wound over time what he was driving She eventually flagged down a sheriff’s deputy who helped her.

“My family has always been worth more than gold than any money. Money can’t replace my family,” he told Record Searchlight in 2017. “I know I have to try my best to be around them a little bit more. To be attentive to the signs that I went through with the residual war”.

11-year-old boy on boat found alive on shore

The three Phommathep members on board the boat were accompanied by a cousin Prasong, 45, his 11-year-old son Juladi and their longtime friend Matthew Ong, 42, reported KGO-TV.

Prasong was found alive floating on a cooler the boy used to survive, according to KGO-TV.

The US Coast Guard suspended its search for the four missing sailors around 6:30 p.m. Sunday after searching for about 57 hours.

“The decision to suspend a search is always difficult to make and is never made lightly,” U.S. Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Michael L. Zapawa said in a statement. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the missing seafarers at this incredibly difficult time.”

After losing her 17-year-old son, Tiffany said she still had hope that her husband and other child had survived.

“The chances are unlikely,” she told the Los Angeles Times. “But I’d like to keep hoping that maybe they’ve made it to shore somewhere.”

A GoFundMe dedicated to supporting victims raised more than $40,000 by Friday night.

Contributed by: Saman Shafiq