Riverside County Sheriff’s Department responded to the 25000 block of Hotei Lane in Pine Cove on Monday Sept. 24 to assist CAL FIRE first responders with what was initially described as a request for medical aid. A neighbor made the call to 911. Deputies responded at approximately 11:24 a.m.
According to Hemet Station’s Special Investigations Supervisor Sgt. Wallace Clear, upon arrival deputies found 69 year old Christopher “Kit” Clark deceased from what the Sheriff’s Department is calling “an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.”
Clark’s 24 year old son Benjamin Egan, who lived with Clark, was detained at the scene and is currently incarcerated on two outstanding drug related warrants. Egan is being held at Larry B. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning on $50,000 bail on two felony charges of possession of controlled substances.
It is not normally the paper’s policy to report on apparent suicides in private residences, but given the already highly publicized speculation within the community, the intense and extensive police presence at the scene over a 12 hour period, and the more than 24-hour delay in receiving official confirmation of the identity of the decedent, an editorial decision was made to report the information supplied in the Sheriff’s Department’s official release on the investigation.
The investigation into the circumstances of Clark’s death is continuing and the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department is asking anyone with information regarding this incident to contact Hemet Station at (951) 791-3400.
