CHICO >> The Chico Police Department is investigating a suspected homicide after a man died from a gunshot wound late Monday evening at the city’s alternate camp site on the northwest corner of Eaton and Cohasset Roads.

According to information from campers who did not identify their name, which was corroborated by a local homeless advocate, two dogs began fighting, which led to the two men to begin fighting.

Officers responded to a call about the shooting around 10:15 p.m., according to a news release from the department, and upon arrival found a man with a gunshot wound. The department said that while life saving measures were taken, the man was declared dead on scene.

The case is being pursued as a homicide investigation, and police say the incident is isolated with no imminent danger to the public.

The Butte County Sheriff-Coroner’s Office has withheld the identity of the man pending next of kin notification.

Charles Withuhn, president of North State Shelter Team which does weekly shower services at the site, said he spoke to three campers Tuesday morning, and gathered information that the shooting happened between two longtime campers who were authorized to be there, and he said the man who was shot may have been one of the first residents there.

Withuhn said he knew the two men, who each lived with partners at the camp, along with six to seven dogs each.

“They had so may dogs that they couldn’t keep them in control and two got loose and got in a fight, and that upset the owners … one thing led to another,” he said.

The fight escalated, and the two men had guns; at one point a neighbor came to diffuse the fight, but the fight escalated to the point that one shot the other in the head, according to Withuhn.

One camper who goes by the name Yeti said the man who fired his gun was upset because he believed his dog was dead, and “If he had waited an hour, he’d known his dog was alive.”

Withuhn said medics arrived in about 10 minutes, and were able to keep the wounded man alive for 20 minutes before he died. He said the partner of the deceased has been a center of the community and regularly held meetings inside their tent.

Withuhn said Chico’s camp has been described by city officials as a “disaster,” but “yesterday was more than a disaster.”

According to Withuhn, existing conditions at the camp have been “stressful to live with,” including that there are no security guards; no security gates, the dumpster is emptied irregularly; that cooking may only happen on city-installed grills.