Questions Remain Over Fatal Shooting In Lakeland Village

Two days after a deputy fatally shot a man who lived in a mobile home on a troubled street in Lakeland Village, neighborhood kids play, a guy works on his car and people gather to talk.

Life seems back to normal except for the flowers, candles and crosses set out in front of a gated drive on 32921 Rome Hill Road.

At this address, a 58-year-old man -- who neighbors identify as Fred L. Smith -- According to a Lake Elsinore Sheriff's Station report, Smith was killed after he brandished a shotgun while deputies attempted to serve a narcotics search warrant at the residence.

Deputies and neighbors say no one else was in the mobile home at the time of the shooting, and no officers were injured.

A Neighbor’s Account

Two small trailer homes separate Debbie Fitzpatrick’s modest two-story house from the mobile home that Smith lived in.

A recent widow and mother of two, 46-year-old Fitzpatrick said several local kids were staying at her house the morning of the shooting.

“I’m the neighborhood mom,” she said, explaining that she and three others in her house heard and saw the event unfold. She contends that police never called out their presence and were able to gain quick access into the mobile home where Smith was.

“Seconds after they got inside, we heard two shots,” she said, noting that two officers were inside the mobile home when shots were fired.

A Hard Story In A Tough Town

In Lakeland Village, property values are low, crime is high, and unemployment hovers around 22 percent. Law enforcement activity is commonplace. Some residents complain of harassment by police; others want to see more arrests.

By most standards, Lakeland Village is a bit rough. In fact, some of the people interviewed for this story are paroled felons.

Tyler Cutler, 26, is one such person. Standing on Fitzpatrick’s porch, Cutler and others gathered to remember Smith Sunday afternoon.

“I have a checkered past,” admitted Cutler, who said he lived under Smith’s roof before moving to Lake Elsinore. “When I got out (of prison), I had nowhere to go. Fred took me in. He fed me; he gave me a place to stay. He had a huge heart and would do anything for people he cared about.

“He wasn’t a big-time drug dealer,” Cutler contends. “I might believe there was pot or a little meth for his personal use. There’s no way there was heroin or a meth lab.”

Fitzpatrick said she was Smith’s state-appointed in-home caretaker and knew him well.

“I got paid by the state every two weeks -- 60 hours per pay period -- for taking care of him,” she said. “He had a sciatic nerve, hepatitis C and he used a walker.”

She said Smith had been living at the residence on Rome Hill Road for nearly four years and that he didn’t like to be alone.

“He knew everyone and liked having people stay at his place,” she said.

“I saw him the night before (he was shot),” she continued. “He was on fentanyl that night. I’m pretty sure he was asleep and drooling when they (the deputies) got there.”

Fitzpatrick confirmed that Smith did keep a shotgun under his bed, which he called “Bessie.”

“I can’t imagine he could have grabbed that gun very fast,” she said. “He could barely move any time of day, let alone the morning, and he was on the fentanyl."

Fitzpatrick said Smith lived a very modest lifestyle. An older mobile home, a small patch of grass and a blue late-model SUV parked under a carport are all that remains of Smith's life on Rome Hill Road.

“He was living off his disability check,” Fitzpatrick contends. “It was 1,200-and-some-odd-dollars per month. He didn’t have any money. His luxuries were his Internet, TV and phone.”

Twenty-three-year-old Lakeland Village resident Ryan Archuleta-Dunbar, who is a parolee, said Smith was “a cranky old man with a big heart.”

“He didn’t want to see us getting in trouble,” Archuleta-Dunbar said. “I’m on the right track now, but it’s mainly because of Fred.”

Nowhere To Go

As Sunday afternoon grew late, the residents who were gathered on Fitzpatrick’s porch said they want to memorialize Smith.

“I don’t know how,” Fitzpatrick said. “A lot of people have called me about it, but we don’t have his body.”

They said Smith’s parents are deceased and he was an only child. They believe he may have had ties to the longtime Lake Elsinore business Pioneer Lumber. Records show that Pioneer was taken over by a man named Fred Smith in 1934, but there's no confirmation of any relation.

Smith was a carpenter years ago, the residents said, and his family owned two nearby homes that he helped build.

But the circumstances surrounding Smith’s life and death are hazy, and many facts will never be known.

“We don’t have the money to look into it,” the residents said.

Cutler, who is jobless and battling legal problems stemming from his criminal record, said: “We didn’t think anyone would even be interested in hearing us. Usually, nobody pays attention around here.”