Campo Confrontation Ends in Man’s Slaying

An afternoon of joy-riding and target practice erupted in violence as two Campo men argued over pointing guns and creating dust clouds.

A 33-year-old man, armed with a semiautomatic gun, was shot and killed Saturday evening after arguing with another Campo resident who was engaging in target practice, the San Diego Sheriff’s Department reported Sunday.

Robert Alan Fansler was mortally wounded, the Sheriff’s Department said, after being shot in the neck when he began arguing with Raymond Reagan, 38, who had been practicing shooting with his AK-47 rifle. Fansler, angry about having a gun pointed at him earlier in the day, went home, armed himself with an M-16 assault rifle and returned to the 700 block of Forrest Gate Road, where he again encountered Reagan, authorities said.

Fansler, who lived in the 1100 block of Custer Way, was pronounced dead at the scene at 8:41 p.m.

Earlier in the day, Reagan and his 5-year-old son had gone target shooting in a remote wooded area. In the woods, three men aboard off-road motorbikes, drove past the father and son, leaving them in a cloud of dust, deputies said.

The three men were Fansler and two friends: David Scott White, 30, of Campo, and Carl Heinz Kaltschmidtt, 33, of El Cajon.

By the time the trio returned and passed once more by Reagan, he had been joined by a friend, Kevin Barnwell, 20, of Campo, deputies said. Reagan stepped into the road and confronted the three men about the dust they had created, they said.

The men left, going to Fansler’s home. Once there, White reportedly urged Fansler to report the incident to authorities, but Fansler became agitated and gave a loaded 9-millimeter pistol to Kaltschmidtt. Fansler and Kaltschmidtt argued, and Fansler took off in his car, authorities said. Kaltschmidtt, still wearing the gun belt, and White drove back to the wooded area aboard their motorbikes in time to see Fansler confronting Reagan, according to the Sheriff’s Department.

When Fansler arrived, he reportedly pointed his rifle at Reagan, began cursing and asked how he liked having a gun pointed at him. Barnwell, who was unarmed, and Reagan both feared that Fansler would begin firing, according to the Sheriff’s Department.

Reagan fired two shots, deputies said, striking Fansler in the neck. Reagan was questioned by deputies and released. Authorities will forward the case to the district attorney’s office for review.