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A defendant in a family dispute was being held without bail on a murder charge after police say he fatally shot an elderly woman as she tried to run inside a Texas courthouse, setting off a shootout with law enforcement officers that briefly became a hostage situation.
Bartholomew Granger, 41, was also accused of wounding three other people, including a daughter authorities said he ran over with a pickup truck while he tried to escape. He was being held at a jail after being treated at a hospital following his arrest.
The woman killed, Minnie Ray Seabolt, 79, of Deweyville, Texas, appeared to be an innocent bystander, Jefferson County Sheriff Mitch Woods said. Granger's daughter remained hospitalized in critical condition, authorities said. The daughter's mother and the third person injured were treated at the hospital and released.
Granger was outside the Jefferson County Courthouse in Beaumont on Wednesday before the continuation of his trial, grabbed a gun from his truck and began shooting, authorities said. The woman was fatally struck as she tried to run into the courthouse, while Granger's daughter and another bystander fell to the ground.
Several law enforcement officers returned fire as the courthouse about 80 miles east of Houston went on lockdown.
It was crazy," said Beaumont Police Chief Jimmy Singletary. "He was shooting. Our guys were shooting."
Police say Granger was firing from his truck and then ran over his daughter as he drove away. He went about three blocks before abandoning his truck in the middle of the street then taking hostages in a nearby construction business, police said.
Once inside, Granger spoke by phone to police and told them he was wounded. He eventually surrendered and was taken to the hospital.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap...WTGozw?docId=31d1f684f64d422cb68588f2b2e7faea
