Neighbor shares exclusive video of Rancho Mirage standoff
A neighbor is sharing exclusive video with News Channel 3 of Saturday’s standoff between deputies and a man who barricaded himself inside his home in Rancho Mirage.
Nathan Perkins has a front-facing security camera on his home that captured the entire incident. He watched law enforcement agencies work together through his security camera app after he had evacuaded. “They banged our door again and said you guys gotta get out of here,” said Perkins.
Watch News Channel 3 at 5 p.m. to watch new video from Saturday’s scene as well as the Riverside County Sheriff’s Dept. sharing how their strategic tactics led to a successful arrest.
Saturday’s Update: A representative for the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department tells News Channel 3 the armed man involved in the standoff at “The Colony” in Rancho Mirage is now in custody. There are no reports of any injuries. The Sheriff’s department has identified Eugene Mueller, 75, as the shooter. Mueller is being held at the Riverside County Jail for Negligent Discharge of a Firearm and is set to be in court Wednesday.
Some residents who live at The Colony say they were asked to evacuate after shots were reported. “I’ve been here since 2004 I’ve never seen anything like this before in my life,” said David Gregory.
Residents say deputies came to their doors and said they could either evacuate or lock their doors and lay on the ground. “We heard the helicopters and out of nowhere a bunch of cops came with their armor and their shotguns,” said Stephnie Roberts.
SWAT teams, Riverside County Sheriff’s Deputies, a bomb squad, CALFire, a crisis negotiation team were all on the scene in addition to a CHP search helicopter circling overhead — all working together to coax the suspect out of his home. “These units that are on the scene we’re just working collaboratively to end it quickly,” said Deputy Mike Vasquez, Public Information Officer, Riverside County Sheriff’s Dept.
Flash grenades and tear gas were used on the scene.
Some residents say the suspect has a history of erratic behavior. “They have said that he is unstable without the medication that he has had incoherent conversations with people,” said Gregory.
INITIAL REPORT:
Riverside County Sheriff’s Deputies are working to apprehend a man who is barricaded inside a Rancho Mirage home. The suspect, only identified by authorities as an older adult white male, has shot at deputies. Deputies are using tear gas to subdue the suspect and a crisis negotiation team is on scene.
The heavy police presence in “The Colony” development has had residents concerned for most of the day. Reporter Madison Weil is on the scene and is working to gather additional information. The Riverside County Sheriffs Department is on the scene as well as a SWAT team. A helicopter is circling overhead. An ambulance has also arrived on the scene.
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Several eyewitnesses have contacted News Channel 3, describing the incident as an “active shooter” situation.
Deputy Armando Munoz tells News Channel 3 they first got a report of shots fired at 9:50 Saturday morning. There are no injuries reported. Sheriffs deputies are attempting to make contact with residents in the development.
{“url”:”https://twitter.com/RSOPIOEast/status/1129834518788001793″,”author_name”:”Riverside County Sheriff PIO-East”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/RSOPIOEast”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;&#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/ranchomirage?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;#ranchomirage&#lt;/a&#gt; On morning of 05/18/19, deputies conducting investigation of possible shots fired within the 100 block of Capri St. Please avoid the area as investigation is ongoing. Updates to follow.&#lt;/p&#gt;– Riverside County Sheriff PIO-East (@RSOPIOEast) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/RSOPIOEast/status/1129834518788001793?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;May 18, 2019&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}
One resident wrote to News Channel 3 saying, “Active shooter situation at The Colony in Rancho Mirage. Residents were told to lock their doors and lay on the ground, or to gather at the Clubhouse.”
Residents are sharing their firsthand accounts with reporter Madison Weil. One heard six gunshots and said Sheriff’s Deputies knocked on their door to let them know to evacuate or lock their doors and stay on the ground. Some residents say they went to the clubhouse for shelter.
The Colony is located east of the intersection of Gerald Ford Drive and Da Vall Drive in Rancho Mirage.
Deputies have blocked the 100 block of Capri Street, near International Boulevard. They are asking people to avoid the area.
Stay with KESQ News Channel 3 as we work to find new information on this breaking news.
