Photo by Tarmo Hannula: Numerous roads remain closed in the Seacliff area of Aptos early Thursday after a man reportedly shot a woman Wednesday evening and he holed up in his home.
APTOS — An Aptos man who barricaded himself in his residence after allegedly entering a neighbor’s house and shooting a woman there was arrested Thursday at about 12 p.m., Santa Cruz County Sheriff Jim Hart said.
Ralph Millar, 57, surrendered peacefully after refusing to come out during an 18-hour standoff.
The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team responded to the residence on the 100 block of Santa Cruz Avenue at about 5:45 p.m.
According to Hart, the shooting was sparked by a neighborhood dispute between Millar and the victim that occurred between 5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. Wednesday.
“Ralph Millar went across the street, entered a home and shot at two women, striking one woman,” Hart said.
Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Sgt. Cesar Ramirez said that dispute started in late June.
The victim is expected to live. She was flown by air ambulance to an out-of-county trauma center.
Millar
As the standoff went on, Hart told reporters that deputies were planning to take things “as slow as we can,” and trying to negotiate with Millar.
“She survived,” Hart said. “And the message I want to get to Mr. Millar is that nobody died. This is salvageable, so let’s avoid any loss of life in this case.”
Another woman who was in the house was not shot. She was treated at a local hospital and released. Nobody else was injured.
The sheriff’s office did not release any information about the victims.
Neighbors in the area were evacuated as the standoff continued.
Neighbor Carol Puskar said she had left her residence five minutes before the shooting and heard about three gunshots.
“From what I’ve heard from neighbors he’s a nice person; I personally don’t know him,” she said. “I’m so lucky that my neighbors have taken me in so I have a place to stay right now.”
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Pajaronian photographer Tarmo Hannula contributed to this report.
