Rancho Mirage standoff suspect faces attempted murder charge

A man arrested Saturday after a several-hours-long standoff in a Rancho Mirage development faces three felony counts, including a charge of attempted murder, according to county jail records.

Eugene Lamarr Mueller Jr., 75, was taken into custody on Saturday at 2:57 p.m. on Capri Street in the “The Colony”. Mueller barricaded himself in a home after there was a report of shots fired at 9:50 a.m. that morning.

The barricade led to a massive police presence swarming to the scene, with a SWAT team, bomb squad, crisis negotiation team, CHP search helicopter, Riverside County Sheriff’s deputies, and Cal Fire responding.

In addition to the attempted murder charge, Mueller faces one felony county of assault with a deadly weapon and one felony count of shooting an inhabited building.

He is being held on $1,000,000 bail at the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning. He is set to appear in court at the Larson Justice Center in Indio on Wednesday at 8:00 a.m.

Residents of the Colony told News Channel 3 that Mueller has a history of erratic behavior.

“They [neighbors] have said that he is unstable without the medication that he has had incoherent conversations with people,” said David Gregory, a resident of the community.

Despite concerns about Mueller, however, Gregory says that this incident is anomalous for the Colony.

“I’ve been here since 2004 I’ve never seen anything like this before in my life,” said Gregory.