Suspect in coma

June 12, 2009 11:39 am

— GORMAN, Calif. (AP) — California authorities say a man wanted on a murder warrant in Kansas is in critical condition with a self-inflicted gunshot wound after he barricaded himself inside a motel room.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department says 53-year old Franklin L. Grammer Jr. is wanted on a murder charge in Kansas City. Police say 46-year-old Betty DeWitt Grammer, formerly of Ada, Okla., died Monday, June 8, after being shot while supervising a house painting crew in Fairway, Kan.
Witnesses told police that Grammer shot his ex-wife Monday morning at the house. They said Franklin Grammer drove up to the house, put Betty in a headlock and shot her in the top of the head.
The standoff with police in California started after a California Highway Patrol officer ran a check on Grammer’s vehicle plates in the mountain town of Gorman. Grammer barricaded himself in his room for eight hours.
After trying to end the situation with tear gas, officers went inside the room and found Grammer in bed suffering from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the upper body.
He was airlifted to a hospital in critical condition.

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