Biotech Exec Who Allegedly Shot 2 La Jolla Men Heading to Court Thursday

A rescheduled readiness conference is scheduled for Thursday for Hans Peterson, a biotech executive accused of shooting his estranged wife's brother and another man in La Jolla.

The meeting was originally scheduled for Nov. 22 at the San Diego County Courthouse.

Petersen, 49, is being held without bail on suspicion of several felonies, including three counts of attempted murder, in connection with the shootings in La Jolla on Sept. 18.

Petersen is suspected of firing into a home in the 5700 block of Waverly Drive about 3 a.m. Sept. 18, wounding 53-year-old Steven Dowdy. Dowdy, a UC San Diego researcher and former Petersen business associate, was awakened by gunshots, got up to investigate and suffered a bullet wound to his lower back, the San Diego Police Department reported.

Shortly before 7 a.m. that morning, more gunfire was reported, this time in the 1400 block of Cottontail Lane, about a half-mile northeast of the site of the first shooting. There, police found 43-year-old Ronald Fletcher with a gunshot wound to his stomach and Petersen suffering from a head injury, said Lt. Kevin Mayer of SDPD public-affairs.

The suspect's former brother-in-law told officers that after being shot in the abdomen, he managed to wrest the gun away from the assailant and hit him over the head with it. Petersen was treated at the same hospital before being released and taken to downtown SDPD headquarters for questioning.

Police said the relationship between Petersen and Dowdy began to sour when Petersen lost his job and blamed Dowdy, and the suspect allegedly targeted Fletcher because of the role he played in his sister's separation from Petersen.

According to Petersen's online resume, he is CEO of Bays Four Corp., a genome data-analysis firm headquartered in La Jolla.

—City News Service contributed to this report.