California Man Charged with Killing Girlfriend, Shooting at Polson Police Officer

A 49-year-old California man is accused of fatally shooting his girlfriend with an untraceable, military-style “ghost gun” and shooting at a police officer during a traffic stop in Polson on Valentine’s Day.

Cameron Edward Francis was booked in the Lake County Jail on Feb. 15 on a $5 million bond. He is charged with a felony count of deliberate homicide and a second felony count of attempted deliberate homicide in Lake County District Court.

According to an affidavit filed Feb. 21 by Lake County Attorney James Lapotka, Polson Police Department Officer Michael Wharton on Feb. 14 at 11:51 p.m. conducted a traffic stop on Francis, who was driving his girlfriend’s Honda Accord with no visible taillights north on U.S. Highway 93 across the Armed Services Memorial Bridge.

During the interaction, Francis leaned out of the driver’s side window and began shooting at the officer’s vehicle, which penetrated the vehicle’s body and engine block and cut through the windshield, showering Wharton with broken glass.

Francis allegedly left the scene heading north on Highway 93. As Wharton attempted to pursue the suspect, his vehicle overheated and became inoperable, records state.

Approximately 30 minutes later, a citizen reported that a man acting odd in the Elmo area had told him, “never do dumb stuff” and “call the cops,” records state. Officers responded, located the Accord and followed a set of footprints in the snow to the Elmo Post Office where they found Francis. The suspect told law enforcement, “I give up” and “you got me” before he was arrested, according to documents.

On the way to the Lake County Jail, Francis allegedly told authorities that all the shell casings would have his fingerprints on them and that he could have “taken a few of them in a standoff if he wanted to.” He also stated he had been staying with his girlfriend in Polson, that the Accord was registered to her and that law enforcement would “figure it all out from here.”

While the defendant was being processed for gunshot residue at the Lake County Jail, he said he had shot people before.

Authorities obtained a search warrant for the Accord and located a 5.56 NATO military-style rifle with a 60-round barrel drum magazine and a red dot sight, records state. The receiver of the rifle was custom milled and had no serial number, according to filings. Officers also found a large plastic tub containing hundreds of rounds of NATO 5.56 ammunition — green-tipped bullets commonly referred to as “armor piercing ammunition.” The side of the police vehicle was scorched with gunshot residue consistent with the shots fired from the driver’s side window.

According to documents, a review of Officer Wharton’s dash camera footage showed approximately 20 shots initially fired at his vehicle from outside the driver’s window and seven more in a second fusillade as the Accord drove away. Officers later located upwards of 20 spent 5.56 casings in the northbound lane of Highway 93 where the suspect had allegedly shot at Wharton.

Authorities discovered the Accord was registered to Kimberly Goodson, whose son, Aaron Pendergraft, contacted law enforcement on Feb. 16 after learning about Francis’s arrest, requesting a welfare check on his mother. Pendergraft told officers Goodson was in an abusive relationship with the defendant and he had not heard from her since Valentine’s Day.

During the welfare check, law enforcement found Goodson deceased in a pool of blood in the bathroom of her residence.

After obtaining a search warrant, officers observed signs of a struggle in the home, including broken glass. They located large volumes of ammunition, including green-tipped 5.56 rounds as well as a single spent 5.56 casing several feet away from Goodson’s body.

An autopsy revealed that Goodson died from a single gunshot wound to her face and a green-tipped fragment of a 5.56 round was recovered.

Camera footage near the residence shows the Accord driving away from Goodson’s residence minutes before the traffic stop.

According to court records, Francis has a lengthy criminal history with prior federal convictions and felony convictions in California including for methamphetamine manufacturing; felony assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury; felony vehicle theft; felony reckless evading a peace officer; felony obstructing or resisting an executive officer; felony assault with a firearm on person; felony possession of a firearm by a felon; and felony vandalism. The charges date back to 1996 and include numerous parole revocations.

The defendant has no known ties to Lake County and has a history of noncompliance.

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