Names of Officers in April Shooting Released CSU Title IX Audit Results Coming

The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office has identified the three officers who fired their guns in an April 18 shooting in Eureka that left two suspects in critical condition.

The shooting came after a report of an armed robbery at the Bayshore Mall led to a police pursuit that ended when the suspect vehicle crashed at the intersection of Harris and Dolbeer streets in Eureka, at which point the suspects — Brandon and Jess Widmark, 27 and 18, respectively — allegedly got out of their car with rifles in hand. Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal said investigators believe at least one shot was fired at deputies, three of whom fired at the suspects.

A month after the shooting — and after numerous requests from the Journal seeking the identities of the officers who fired their weapons in the exchange, how many shots they fired and how many times the suspects were hit — the sheriff’s office responded to a public records act request May 18, disclosing the names of the officers involved. They were identified as Sgt. Conan Moore, who’s been with the department 14 years, deputy Chad Crotty, a six-year veteran of the department, and deputy Luke Mathieson, who’s been with the department 10 years.

The sheriff’s office declined to release how many shots were fired in the exchange and how many times the suspects were shot because “this is still an active, multi-faceted investigation.”

Meanwhile, the Eureka Police Department, which is leading the multi-agency Critical Incident Response Team investigation into the shooting, has announced that both the Widmark brothers have been discharged from a local hospital and booked into jail on suspicion of the attempted murder of a peace police officer, brandishing a firearm in the presence of an officer and other charges.

— Thadeus Greenson

POSTED 05.19.23

The California State University Board of Trustees was slated to release the results of a system-wide Title IX audit at its meeting May 23, after the Journal went to press. The law firm Cozen O’Connor received feedback from nearly 18,000 CSU community members through anonymous surveys and in-person visits.

“The CSU is initiating a Title IX assessment across the nation’s largest public fouryear higher education system to ensure the health, safety and welfare of our students, faculty and staff,” stated acting CSU Executive Vice Chancellor Steve Relyea. “We will continue to fortify our commitment to be leaders of Title IX innovation and response.”

The audit comes after the resignation of Joseph I. Castro as CSU chancellor over his mishandling of a Title IX sexual harassment case — and the USA Today investigation of former Cal Poly Humboldt Dean John Lee. Lee was fired from his administrative role after an investigation found he’d groped two colleagues, but he later returned to a teaching position at Cal Poly Humboldt under a “retreat rights” clause in his contract. The CSU will revise its practices relating to the ability of an administrator to retreat to a faculty position.

In his fall 2022 semester welcome address, Cal Poly Humboldt President Tom Jackson made an inflammatory statement about the university’s position in the public eye regarding Title IX reports. Jackson called Cal Poly Humboldt “a campus filled with secrets” and said that survivors who tell their stories publicly do so “for personal gain” or to take a “nip at the university.” Jackson later apologized for the comments.

Cozen O’Conner attorneys visited Cal Poly Humboldt for three days of interviews in December, several months after the university’s Academic Senate passed a resolution in support of sexual survivors that charged Jackson’s welcome address comments had “led to additional harm and a feeling of distrust.”

— Ollie Hancock POSTED 05.23.23