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John Leehey

Age : 67

Gender : Male

Race : White

Date : 08/23/2023

Location : Cook’s Corner, 19152 Santiago Canyon Road

City : Trebuco Canyon

County : Ventura

State : California

Agency : Ventura Police Department, retired officer

Officer(s) :John Patrick Snowling, retired sergeant

Cause of Death : Gunshot

Event : Killed by retired police sergeant during mass shooting

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 08/23/2023, John Leehey, 67, of Irvine, was among the patrons at Cook’s Corner during its popular Wednesday spaghetti night when retired Ventura Police Department Sgt. John Snowling entered the establishment armed with two handguns.
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Snowling went directly to his estranged wife, Marie Snowling, and shot her in the jaw. He then shot Marie's friend Tonya Clark and began firing at other people inside the crowded bar.
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Leehey attempted to escape as the shooting unfolded. Witness accounts subsequently described seeing him fall while people were fleeing. Leehey was shot in the back and died at the scene.
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Snowling continued firing inside and outside the bar. He ultimately shot nine people, killing Leehey, Clark and Glen Sprowl Jr. and wounding six others.
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Leehey was an urban planner whose career included land planning and landscape design projects internationally. He had previously worked for Danielian Associates, which described him after his death as a respected industry leader.
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The Orange County Sheriff’s Department Coroner Division identified Leehey as one of the three people killed by Snowling.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
John Patrick Snowling was a retired Ventura Police Department sergeant who served with the department from July 1986 through February 2014. His nearly 28-year career included patrol and traffic assignments, and he had led the Ventura Police Officers Association.
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Snowling had separated from his wife in 2020. Marie Snowling filed for divorce in December 2022, and the proceedings remained pending when Snowling traveled from Ohio to Southern California in August 2023.
.Investigators concluded that Snowling traveled to Cook’s Corner to target his wife. After shooting her, he turned his weapons on other people at the bar, including Leehey.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://abc7.com/orange-county-bar-mass-shooting-trabuco-canyon-crooks-corner/13694011/
https://abc7.com/post/cooks-corner-victims-orange-county-mass-shooting-marie-snowling-john-leehey/13700901/
https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/cooks-corner-two-band-members-released-from-hospital-after-shooting/
https://apnews.com/article/f95e4786ea17091861f20d2192c49a0b