One man killed, one injured in shooting

MCSO believes incident may be related to family dispute

One man was killed and another critically injured in Talmage Wednesday morning after being shot during a family dispute, the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office reported.

According to the MCSO, deputies responded to a home in the 2500 block of Twining Road in Talmage, southeast of Ukiah, shortly after 8 a.m. Sept. 23 when it was reported that a shooting had occurred.

Local medical personnel also responded to treat the victims, and one of them (a 44-year- old man) was airlifted from the scene with life-threatening injuries. The second victim, described only as a 28-year- old man, was declared deceased at the scene.

When deputies and personnel from the California Highway Patrol and the Ukiah Police Department arrived at the home, the man identified as the shooter, Thomas Dean Jones, 65, was still at the scene and reportedly surrendered to deputies without incident.

The MCSO also reports that “initial scene investigations determined the shooting appeared to be the result of a family dispute in regards to the possible sale of the family property,” and that detectives “are now conducting ongoing investigations into the incident with the assistance of the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office and the California Department of Justice.”

MCSO Capt. Greg Van Patten said later that the suspect, Jones, was married to the 44-year- old victim, and the 28-yearold man who died was the suspect’s stepson. Van Patten said the relationship between the two men was ending, and Jones was upset about plans to sell the property in Talmage.

Van Patten said he did not feel comfortable releasing the victim’s name yet Wednesday afternoon, and also did not want to release how many gunshots each victim had suffered and where the injuries were.

However, Van Patten said that the stepson died immediately, and that both men had suffered multiple gunshot wounds.

Around 2:30 p.m., Van Patten said that Jones was still being booked into Mendocino County Jail under multiple charges, including homicide and attempted homicide, as well as illegal weapon charges, and is being held without bail.