3 dead, 4 wounded in shootout in central Virginia

By: | Inside NoVA
Published: August 23, 2010

LOUISA, Va. (AP) — A man involved in a dispute with other family members over property and belongings opened fire in a rural central Virginia neighborhood, killing two people and wounding four others before police fatally shot him, authorities said.

P.T. Spencer, a member of the Louisa County Board of Supervisors, said Monday that gunman Charles Sponaugle and two other family members had an ongoing dispute over a 1.5-acre lot after Sponaugle's mother died without leaving a will.

"We've had problems with them," Spencer said of Sponaugle's family. He estimated the property was worth "$25,000, if that. It's just insane."

The shooting began around 5 p.m. Sunday at a mobile home outside of the town of Louisa, said Louisa County sheriff's Maj. Donnie Lowe. Officers killed the man and a pit bull they say he unleashed on them in a shootout. No officers were injured, Lowe said.

Officials haven't released the victims' identities.

The wounded, including one with life-threatening injuries, were transported to the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville, Lowe said. A hospital spokeswoman didn't immediately return a telephone message early Monday.