Former officer allegedly shoots wife in Pleasant Hill; still posting on social media inside home

PLEASANT HILL, Calif. - A former police officer who allegedly shot his wife through a door to their garage, was still inside his home Friday, posting odd messages on X, while Pleasant Hill police tried for hours to get him to come outside.

Police did not name the man, but said Friday morning that "the circumstances surrounding this event indicated the husband was not an immediate threat to the general public."

But KTVU has been following the retired officer's X account since Thursday at 7 p.m., as he received messages from police about resolving a standoff peacefully and getting mental health help if he needed.

The man's X account has been active all throughout the morning, likely from inside his house in the 200 block of Cleopatra Drive.

That's where Lt. Jason Kleven said the wife told family members that she had been locked out of her home by her husband.

She had tried to get inside through the barricaded garage door, police said, and her husband fired a single shot from a shotgun toward the door.

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His wife was struck by a bullet, police said, and was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

She has since been treated and released, police said.

As of 11 a.m., the husband was still inside the house. 

He had resisted attempts by crisis negotiators to come outside and police said they sent the SWAT team home. 

But it was unclear if there were any other police officers watching the house. 

He has continued to post messages on X that make police believe he is suicidal. 

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During the peak of the standoff, a KTVU camera crew at the scene saw more than a dozen police officers, as well as SWAT, swarm the neighborhood. 

Neighbor Peter Scheers said he saw a lot of Army-style trucks, squad cars and officers with machine guns.

"It was pretty serious," he said. 

Karlos Guillen, who lives two doors away, said he waited for about two hours before going to the gym about midnight to kill some time before he could return home. 

Pleasant Hill police were unavailable to answer KTVU's inquiries seeking additional information.

Guns drawn as a large police presence blocks off access to a Pleasant Hill neighborhood. Residents are warned to stay indoors. Dec. 7, 2023.