Shooting Spree Is Said to Have Targeted 3 People : Thousand Oaks: Court is told woman accused of firing at buildings knew some of the residents. Trial is ordered.

A 45-year-old woman accused of shooting up homes, vehicles, a church and a school in Thousand Oaks during a drunken rage knew at least three of the people whose homes were hit and may have targeted them, according to court testimony Friday.

During a preliminary hearing for Kathleen Ann Quinn, an investigator testified that Quinn once rented a house from one of the residents and was at least a casual acquaintance of two others.

Previously, investigators had said they believed the Dec. 12 shooting spree was random.

After hearing Friday’s testimony, Municipal Judge Vincent J. O’Neill Jr. said there was sufficient evidence to order Quinn to stand trial in Ventura County Superior Court.

The 19 criminal counts against Quinn, a messenger-service saleswoman, range from shooting at inhabited dwellings to drunk driving. No one was injured by the gunfire, but she is accused of firing into houses inhabited by children.

Outside court, authorities declined to speculate on Quinn’s motive for allegedly firing at the homes of former friends, saying the reason would come out in court.

Deputy Matthew R. Findlay, who arrested Quinn at 9:45 the night of the shootings, testified Friday that he was patrolling the area near Los Robles Regional Medical Center after getting a call about drive-by shootings in the area.

The deputy said he spotted the suspect’s car and saw the driver point a rifle out the window and fire at the hospital.

After Findlay turned on his overhead lights, Quinn emerged from the car unarmed, but told deputies to “go ahead and shoot me,” Findlay testified.

When deputies attempted to arrest her, Quinn became belligerent and had to be forced to the ground by one of the deputies.

“Was she combative?” asked Quinn’s lawyer, attorney Jenny Scovis of Thousand Oaks.

“Yes,” Findlay answered. “She was kicking and yelling while on the ground.”

Detective Joseph F. Braga, who is investigating the case, said he interviewed Quinn about two hours after her arrest.

“She was very despondent, very depressed,” Braga testified. “She was crying and seemed to be in a bit of a disarray.”

After first denying the shooting, Quinn confessed after being reminded that a deputy had witnessed her sticking the gun out the window of her Ford Probe and firing at the hospital, Braga said.

“She said she was shooting at Christmas lights and residences that had Christmas trees,” Braga testified.

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He said Quinn told him she was despondent because she was in the middle of a divorce. She also told him that life had not been treating her fairly, Braga said.

After consuming an undetermined amount of wine, Quinn “just loaded up her gun, put it in the car and started shooting,” Braga testified. Her blood-alcohol level was found to be .15, nearly double the limit state law allows while driving, according to Braga.

Under direct examination by Deputy Dist. Atty. Roger A. Inman, Braga said it took some people several days to realize that their dwelling had been shot. One woman heard a shot that night but did not check her house until reading about the incident in a newspaper.

The principal was inside La Reina High School on Janss Road when it was fired on, but school officials did not notice until the next day that a bullet had bounced off the school’s metal front door.

A resident at another home had gone camping the night of the shooting and did not report that his motor home had been hit by a bullet until Dec. 27, more than two weeks after the incident. The man found the bullet inside the motor home and it matched Quinn’s gun, Braga testified.

Quinn was released from jail 16 hours after the shooting on $5,000 bail. She missed her next court date because she had checked herself into a hospital for psychological counseling. She was rearrested at the Woodland Hills facility Dec. 21 for failure to appear in court.

On Dec. 29, she pleaded not guilty in Municipal Court to the 19 counts. She is now free on $50,000 bail. Judge O’Neill set her Superior Court arraignment for Jan. 21.