Groveland, CA — A Groveland home is in tatters today following a shooting rampage yesterday.
Lt. George Ruckman of the Tuolumne County Sheriff´s Department says deputies were called to the residence after a woman said her husband was threatening her and several others with a gun.
The SWAT team was called out when 56-year-old Howard Wendel refused to come out of the house. Ruckman says deputies evacuated neighboring houses and closed off Noels Dirt Road and White Gulch Road after gunfire was heard in the house.
Ruckman says Wendel threatened to shoot any officers that approached the house and then demanded that officers kill him. The standoff came to an end after Wendel was talked out of the house by one of the SWAT officers, with whom he was acquainted.
Wendel was taken to Tuolumne General Hospital before being booked into the County Jail on $250,000 bail.
This post was last modified on 01/31/2009 2:32 pm