Sonoma’s attempted ‘suicide by cop’ shooter gets 21-year sentence
The man who shot at Sonoma County Sheriff’s Deputy on a downtown Sonoma street in October has received 21 years in state prison.
Nathan James Smart, 44, of Sonoma, fired a homemade zip gun at Deputy Justin Clayton. He missed, but was in turn fired upon by deputies responding to reports of a disturbance at Steiner’s Bar and along West Napa Street.
Smart was hit by the return fire, and underwent extensive medical treatment at UC Davis before being transferred to the Sonoma County jail.
A search of Smart’s residence produced more homemade firearm parts, similar in design to the zip gun used in the shootout with deputies, as well as melted-down objects which appeared to be projectiles for his homemade weapons.
In a statement for his pre-sentence report, Smart said that his goal that night was to commit “suicide by cop.” He pleaded no-contest to charges of assault with a firearm on a peace officer. Under a negotiated agreement, Smart also admitted sentencing enhancements for personal use of a firearm, and for a previous conviction of gross vehicular manslaughter in 1999.
On the evening of October 16, 2022, Deputies were called out to Smart’s residence after his mother reported that Smart had threatened to kill her and himself.
Smart fled the property. Later that night, police received numerous calls about a man breaking store windows in downtown Sonoma. It was Smart. When deputies responded, he produced a self-made firearm and fired at Deputy Clayton.
The case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Martina Kitzmueller. Detective Nicholas Gillotte of the Santa Rosa Police Department’s Violent Crimes Investigations (VCI) Unit headed the investigation.
