Jack Gershman and his dad, Ari, were on a trip together in the Tahoe National Forest when they stopped to figure out where exactly they were. They decided to ask the driver of a blue ATV for directions, and then the unthinkable happened: Ari was shot and killed.
Suddenly left on his own following the bizarre shooting of his father, the 15-year-old had to figure out how to get help for his dad. His problem was made worse when he realized there was no cellphone signal in the forest.
"I tried to call the police, but I still couldn't get cell reception." Eventually, Jack was able to get to higher ground and his phone began to work. "I was able to get a bar of cell reception, and then I called the police."
The police told Jack they would send helicopters, but the boy ended up spending 24 hours in the forest alone. His phone battery died a few hours later, so it was up to him to figure out what to do next.
The local police department sent out helicopters, but they couldn't spot the teen. Jack ended up trying to sleep under a bush, and was quickly covered in mosquito bites.
"A few times I'd wake up because I had a dream of a helicopter coming and getting me, but every time I got into the helicopter I'd wake up again."
When the officers in the helicopters couldn't find him, the sheriff's department dispatched K-9 units from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to search. They finally found him around 4 p.m. the next day, a full 24 hours after Jack originally called.
"I heard people calling for me and just followed their voices and ended up getting rescued."
The man who allegedly shot Ari is John Conway. Conway reportedly shot two people in the Poker Flat area of northwestern Sierra County before shooting Ari. Conway reportedly tried to get past a law enforcement checkpoint. News sources reported the confrontation with police was violent, but Conway was eventually apprehended.
"After the 15-year-old was located, deputies said the suspect approached two CDFW wildlife officers and a USFS officer at high speed in the UTV. The officers were maintaining a checkpoint on Saddleback Road and attempted to stop the vehicle. The suspect failed to stop and tried to run over the two wildlife officers and then fled south on Saddleback Road towards Downieville. A third wildlife officer was positioned down the road in Downieville and started driving up the hill to block the suspects' vehicle."
The report continues:
"There was a collision as the officers were attempting to take the suspect into custody. Investigators said the suspect represented a threat to the officers, leading to an officer-involved shooting and deployment of a K-9. The suspect was taken into custody, and after receiving medical treatment at the scene, he was transported to the hospital. He was later identified as John Thomas Conway of Oroville."
The circumstances surrounding Ari's death are still confusing to his family. His widow, Paige, recalls trying to process the texts her son sent her. "I said, 'Where's Dad?' And he's like, 'He's been shot.' And I said, 'What do you… what do you even mean?'"
Jack also shared that the shooting was quick: "My dad suggested that we ask him for directions. The shooter pulls out a pistol and starts shooting a few times. And after two or three shots, he was hit."
Friends and family of the Gershmans have set up a GoFundMe. Paige is currently receiving chemotherapy treatments and is now a single mom to the couple's three children. The fund explains:
"On Friday, July 3 Ari Gershman was shot and killed by a random gunman while off roading in his brand new 4 wheel drive Jeep with his son, Jack near Downieville, Ca. After surviving over 30 hours alone in the Tahoe National Forest, Jack was found safe. Ari's wife Paige is in the fight of her life right now undergoing Chemo treatments for Cancer."
"This family really needs our love and support. Paige is now the single mother to Evan, 16 a rising Junior at SRV, Jack, 15, a rising sophomore at SRV, and Maci, 10, going into 5th grade at Sycamore. Most recently Paige was a speech and language therapist for the Special Ed Preschool Classes at Greenbrook."
"Ari was an avid bicyclist, a vegetarian, an outdoorsman, an Internal Medicine Doctor, a devoted and loving father and a fantastic friend that was willing to drop anything for his friends and family. He was witty and wise. He died doing what he loved with his son in an area he had hoped to retire in one day."
The alleged shooter, Conway, was well-known to police and was even on the department's Top Ten Most Wanted list for previous charges that include vandalism, battery and making terrorist threats. At the time of the shooting, he was wanted on two felony shootings.
