Intruder Kills 2, Shot Down by Boy, 14

A heavily armed man wearing a bulletproof vest broke into a home early Monday, killing two people and wounding another before he was gunned down by a 14-year-old boy, authorities said.

The assailant was shot twice by Jeremy Sterger, 14, and a third time by Ray Sterger, 44, the boy’s wounded father, Sacramento County Sheriff’s Lt. Jan Hoganson said.

The gunman, identified by authorities as Ron Solida, 36, of Hutchinson, Kan., was armed with three semiautomatic weapons, and died at the scene of the 1 a.m. rampage.

The elder Sterger was hospitalized at University Medical Center in fair condition with a gunshot wound through his lung and into his face, and another in his knee.

Killed were Sterger’s girlfriend, Vikki Hahne, 26, and a son, Scott, 19. His younger son escaped injury.

Authorities described Solida as an ex-boyfriend of Vikki Hahne.

“The only motive that has surfaced so far is a boyfriend-girlfriend situation,” said Sacramento County Sheriff’s Lt. Ray Biondi. “Vikki is his (Solida’s) ex-girlfriend.”

Account of Incident

Hoganson gave this account of the shootings:

Jeremy Sterger was wakened shortly after 1 a.m. by screams from his father and ran to his father’s room, where he saw his father struggling with an armed assailant. The boy saw his father shot in the face, and saw Hahne lying across a bed, shot in the back.

The youth grabbed a .22-caliber pistol from a drawer in his father’s room, ran back to his bedroom, loaded the weapon, turned out the lights of his room, and waited for the assailant to enter. The intruder came into the room, and Jeremy Sterger fired twice.

Jeremy returned to his father’s room and found his father getting to his feet. The two heard the intruder moaning. The father grabbed a .22-caliber rifle and fired, hitting Solida in the head.

‘Self-Defense Shooting’

Hoganson said he doubted there would be any charges filed against either Ray Sterger or his son.

“We don’t expect at this point to determine anything but a self-defense shooting,” he said.

Solida was armed with a hand-held, .45-caliber semiautomatic rifle and two semiautomatic pistols. Two of the weapons had silencers, deputies said.