An off-duty California Highway Patrol officer fatally shot his wife before killing himself after an altercation in a strip mall in Martell, Calif., the Amador County Sheriff’s Office reported Tuesday.
Sheriff’s deputies received a call about 10:45 p.m. Monday from the owner of Get Ripped Nutrition, a vitamin and supplement store, who said a man he knew to be a CHP officer and later identified as Brad Wheat was banging on the door, demanding to be let in, authorities said. The owner of the business was inside the store with Mary Wheat, 42, the man’s wife.
Brad Wheat, 45, shot through the window to get inside the business, and an altercation between the Wheats and the shop owner began, sheriff’s officials said. During the struggle, the business owner was shot in the shoulder, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The Wheats continued arguing and moved into the parking lot, where Brad Wheat shot his wife multiple times before turning the gun on himself, the sheriff’s office reported.
