More than two years after a retired police officer shot up Cook’s Corner, Orange County prosecutors concluded Tuesday that deputies were justified in killing the gunman during a wild shootout.

The report by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office gives a detailed, moment-by-moment breakdown of the gunbattle that left assailant John Patrick Snowling dead after he shot nine people, killing three, on Aug. 23, 2023.

Said Deputy Mathew Harm to investigators: “I could hear the, the sounds of rounds flying past me and the, the cracks of gunfire in the air.”

The report, based partly on sheriff’s body camera and dash camera videos, is heavily redacted and excludes the names of victims. But their identities can be gleaned from past news accounts. Snowling, 60, a retired Ventura Poli

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