SWAT Team Rushes House; Tense Hayward Standoff Ends

POSTED: 8:51 am PST February 10, 2006
UPDATED: 12:30 pm PST February 10, 2006

HAYWARD -- A heavily armed woman who opened fired on police early Friday and kept Alameda County sheriff's deputies at bay for more than eight hours with a small arsenal of weapons was taken into custody after a SWAT team rushed a Hayward home.

Sheriff's Capt. Dale Amaral said Rose Wright, who is in her 50s and recently moved to the Bay Area with her husband, was taken into custody after a observer saw she had laid down her weapon inside the home. She faces a variety of charges including assault with a deadly weapon and possession of assault weapons.

In an attempt to bring the tense standoff to an end, officers had fired several tear-gas canisters into the house. But Amaral said the woman had diffused the effect of the gas by breaking out several windows in the home.

Amaral said the standoff began around 2 a.m. at a home in the area of Meekland and Medford Avenues in Hayward. She refused to talk with officers and threatened to shoot any who come to her door.

The woman's husband -- Clyde Wright -- called for help, saying his wife ordered him out of the house at gunpoint.

"When our officers arrived on the scene, she discharged the firearm," Amaral said, adding she fired it in the home and apparently did not aim for anyone.

According to her husband, the woman had multiple weapons in the house, including "many high-powered rifles," Amaral said. The arsenal included two assault weapons -- including an AK-47, two shotguns and two handguns.

The situation remained tense for several hours while officers waited for just the right moment to rush the house.

"She's broken out several windows. Periodically she will come out and yell," he said. "We haven't been able to sustain any lengthy dialogue. What we're doing now is attempting to get her to talk to us so we can resolve this peacefully."

About five families in the residential area were evacuated and traffic along busy Meekland Avenue was blocked between Medford Avenue and Blossom Way during the standoff, Amaral said.

Amaral added that the couple recently arrived in the neighborhood from Oregon. He said both are around 50 years old and the husband has been "very cooperative" with authorities.

www.ktvu.com/news/6906833/detail.html

The house did not burn and the bird lived. I'm surprised.



Crazy Oregonians.

The Hayward PD Capt. is already talking about FELONY charges for unregistered SUR possession.

These people are total numbnuts. If you're going to bring SURs into the state illegally, why advertise it by shooting a 12-guage in the house.

Didn't take long for them to get Kalifornicated.

200 rounds of ammunition. Whooah. Two minutes of ammo. One of my biggest fears is only having 200 rounds of ammunition.

That's one hell of an arsenal. Wish I had so many guns!

Quoted: 200 rounds of ammunition. Whooah. Two minutes of ammo. One of my biggest fears is only having 200 rounds of ammunition.

Hayward, that's my hood! Go a few streets down and they would have found 50 times that much ammo