BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — The man accused of blasting his way inside Bakersfield Heart Hospital, prompting a massive law enforcement response as he prowled hallways and pointed a rifle at multiple people, has been found guilty of multiple felonies.
A Kern County jury returned guilty verdicts Thursday against Brandon Clark on multiple counts of assault with a gun, shooting at an inhabited dwelling, possession of an assault rifle and being a felon in possession of a gun and ammunition, court records show. He was acquitted on a couple charges.
Clark, 48, is scheduled for sentencing next month. He faces more than 30 years in prison.
“Crimes targeting sensitive areas, like hospitals, affect the community at large by eroding the relative safety that everyone should be allowed to enjoy,” District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer said in a news release. “To open fire upon a busy and operating hospital and then terrorize the people inside is an act of unprovoked violence for which I offer no leniency.”
On Dec. 1, 2017, Clark, of Big Sur, threatened a security guard with a handgun then fired four rounds from an assault rifle into glass doors at the hospital’s employee entrance, according to court documents. He entered and pointed the gun at several people but didn’t shoot.
Surveillance cameras captured Clark armed with a rifle inside the facility.
Witnesses said Clark told them he was looking for his mother, who worked as a nurse there, reports say. Investigators have said they don’t believe he intended to harm her.
When Clark left, arriving police confronted him in the parking lot. He was shot in the chest and taken into custody.
No one else was injured.
Blood tests detected methamphetamine in his system, and Clark’s stepfather told investigators Clark has a history of drug abuse.
Police found more than 4,000 rounds of ammunition during a search of Clark’s house, prosecutors said.
