Background: A section of the 700 block of Kanawha Avenue South in Nitro, West Virginia (Google Maps). Inset: Warren Bruce Crowder (West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation).
As his wife hid feet from the door to her bedroom, a 77-year-old West Virginia man swung an ax and shot a gun seeking to break through to kill her, authorities maintain.
Warren Bruce Crowder has been charged with attempted murder and four counts of wanton endangerment, Kanawha County court records show. He was booked into jail on Monday.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by local CBS affiliate WOWK, Crowder and his wife were at their home on the 700 block of Kanawha Avenue South in Nitro, about 14 miles northwest of Charleston, West Virginia. In the early morning hours before the sun had yet risen on Monday, Crowder allegedly grabbed a weapon.
His wife was hiding from him behind the locked door of their bedroom, authorities said. She called 911 and told them that her husband was attempting to break down the door with an ax after they had gotten into an argument, area ABC affiliate WCHS reported.
As officers arrived at about 4 a.m., they apparently could see through a window of the bedroom where the wife was hiding. They tried to contact Crowder, but he allegedly refused to open the front door for them, and he could be seen kicking the bedroom door that had captured his attention.
Crowder also shot through the bedroom door four times in an attempt to get inside, authorities said. After officers forced their way inside, the complaint says they found apparent bullet holes in the bedroom door and shrapnel inside the room.
The suspect was arrested, and the local outlets did not report any injuries to the wife.
As investigators spoke with Crowder, he reportedly confessed to shooting a gun through the bedroom door in an effort to get inside. He also allegedly admitted that he “was angry, knowing that she was hiding 3 or 4 feet in front of the door in a bed.”
Crowder is behind bars on a $50,000 cash bond. He is scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on Feb. 11.
