Man kills self, shoots woman in standoff

Published 12:00 am Saturday, November 20, 1999

VIDALIA, La. – A four-and-a-half hour armed standoff ended late Friday with one man dead and one woman seriously injured.

Police believe Randy Cavazos, 26, of Vidalia, held Evelyn Anderson hostage in a trailer at 335 Eagle Road. Cavazos had apparently shot himself in the head with a 9 mm pistol and was dead when officers with the Concordia Parish sheriff’s Special Response Team entered the trailer just after 10 p.m.

Sheriff Randy Maxwell said Anderson, who is in her 60s and was identified as the grandmother of Cavazos’ girlfriend, was transferred to Natchez Community Hospital, but hospital sources refused to confirm that.

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Maxwell had no motive for the shooting as of late Friday, when investigators were still taking statements from several people.

Officer George Rutherford of the Vidalia Police Department confirmed a warrant had been issued earlier Friday for Cavazos on a charge of aggravated assault for allegedly threatening his girlfriend, Kristin Anderson.

The trailer where the shooting took place was the home of Robert Anderson, Kristin’s father.

Robert Anderson called the sheriff’s office at 5:24 p.m., saying Cavazos had shot at him several times. He told deputies Cavazos was in the trailer with a loaded pistol and wanted his family members brought to the scene.

When two deputies dispatched to the scene called for backup, SRT officers arrived and approached the house but backed off when Cavazos fired several shots at them.

For four and a half hours, officers were unable to make contact with Cavazos. The sheriff’s office evacuated people from surrounding trailers. Residents on nearby streets were ordered not to leave their houses, and the streets were blocked off to those tried to drive or walk into the area.

Just after 10 p.m., a wounded Evelyn Anderson left the trailer, Maxwell said.

&uot;She said Mr. Cavazos had shot himself and was lying in the living room floor,&uot;&160;Maxwell said.

When officers entered the trailer, they found Cavazos dead. It is unclear when Cavazos shot Anderson and himself.