It was just before sunrise at Malibu Creek State Park when the shot rang out in the pre-dawn silence.

A bullet whizzed into the tent of Tristan Beaudette, who was camping with his two young daughters. Beaudette, a research scientist from Irvine, was killed, his body discovered by others.

The killing June 22 has baffled investigators ever since. At first, it seemed like an isolated incident. But then officials acknowledged they knew of at least seven other shooting reports in the same rustic area in the last two years. Beaudette was the first to die, but another man was wounded by buckshot to his arm.

It’s been a summer of anxiety in and around the popular camping and hiking spot. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department investigators have spent days scouring the canyon area looking for clues. They’ve fielded more calls about more shots fired but said it’s unclear how many of those were real. They closed the campsite itself out of an abundance of caution.

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