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Woman held in tribal shooting rampage; 4 dead, 2 wounded

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This post has been updated. See note below.

A 44-year-old woman was in custody Thursday night in connection with a shooting rampage that left four people dead and two others wounded after a dispute broke out at a hearing for a small Native American tribe in Northern California, law enforcement authorities said.

Police identified the suspect as Sherie Lash, also known as Sherie Rhoades. [Updated 10:58 p.m. PST, Feb. 20, 2014: Public records indentify her as Cherie Rhoades.]

She allegedly opened fire shortly before 3:30 p.m. at the Cedarville Rancheria Tribal Office in Alturas, about 140 miles northeast of Redding in Modoc County.

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Rhoades was at the hearing because she and her son were facing eviction, according to media reports.

Alturas police said the four people slain were a 19-year-old woman, a 45-year-old woman, a 30-year-old man and 50-year-old man. Their names were not released.

Police said the two victims who survived the rampage were airlifted to hospitals

A man who identified himself as Rhoades’ nephew declined to speak to The Times on Thursday night after he was contacted by telephone. “None of our family are saying anything,” he said.

Rhoades was a formal tribal leader and allegedly used a butcher knife to attack one of her victims after she ran out of ammunition, according to a KRCR-TV report.

The rancheria is a federally recognized tribe of 35 Northern Paiute members, according to its website.

Most of the members live on the 26-acre rancheria in Cedarville, about 20 miles east of the tribal office in Alturas.

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robert.lopez@latimes.com

Twitter: @LAJourno

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