Former Officer Gary Cahoon Arrested for Attempted Murder

A former Redding Police officer was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder late Sunday afternoon after police said he shot a man with a shotgun.

Gary Cahoon, 60, of Anderson, fired one round from a shotgun at Brandon Rhodes, who is in his 30s, at about 5:14 p.m. on the 21900 block of Reading Drive, said Detective Wes Collette of the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office.

The two men had been involved in an earlier argument about visitors to Cahoon’s home at about 3 p.m. and Rhodes came back to confront Cahoon at his house, Collette said.

Redding Police Chief Peter Hansen said Cahoon was a Redding Police officer about 30 years ago, resigning in the late 1970s. He said he didn’t know why he resigned.

“He was a police officer for a short period of time,” Hansen said.

Cahoon was an officer for seven years, Collette said. Cahoon and Rhodes were “long-time acquaintances,” he said.

Several pellets from the shotgun blast hit Rhodes and his pickup, Collette said. Rhodes has been treated for his injuries and released.

Cahoon admitted to the shooting, Collette said. He was being held this morning at the Shasta County Jail on $500,000 bail.