Breaking news from Monterey, California - Hollister homicide suspect in stand-off with police on I-5. Merced (12:45 p.m.) - Hollister police say a suicidal man who led authorities on a lengthy, high-speed chase this morning is in a stand-off with them on I-5 near Merced. The man is wanted for the murder of two of his family members in June. ''He's wanted for shooting his wife and 15-year-old son,'' Hollister police spokesman Joanna Martin Delcampo said. ''The other children witnessed the shooting.'' Joaquin Gutierrez was first spotted by Milpitas police heading north on Interstate Highway 680 at about 6 this morning. He then led two police units on a chase that stretched over several counties and reached speeds of 110 miles an hour, according to the California Highway Patrol. The CHP says officers entered the pursuit when Gutierrez approached the northbound Interstate 680 to eastbound Interstate 580 interchange. The chase ended about at about 7 a.m. in Merced, according to the CHP, and as of 8 a.m. the man was still not in police custody. He is reportedly threatening suicide. ''The vehicle is disabled and (the suspect) is refusing to surrender,'' CHP Officer Rich Parman said. ''He has a gun in his possession and occasionally points it at his chest. We have negotiators on scene trying to get him to surrender.'' Parman says officers are hoping for a positive outcome to the scary situation. ''Hopefully he will surrender and go to jail and no one will get hurt,'' he said. Traffic is backed up in both directions from the spot where the car is sitting parked sideways across the north-south two-lane freeway. CHP officer Ralph Caggiano says police from nearby Newman and Gustine are also on the scene...
To think that I grew up in this area long long ago. Things have changed since those good old days of youthful naivety I am afraid.
