Man Shoots and Kills Wife, Self Outside Acton Saloon

A man apparently distraught over marital problems fatally shot his wife outside an Acton saloon Tuesday, then drove to a spot about a mile away where he killed himself with a shotgun, Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies said.

The couple was identified by deputies as Carl George Etheredge, 68, of Acton and Norma Jean Etheredge, 49, of Agua Dulce. They had been separated for about a year, and both were known in the community by their middle names.

The first shooting took place in a dirt parking lot on the side of the 49’er Saloon at 10 a.m., apparently after Norma Jean Etheredge stopped while on her way to work at the Vanguard News, a newspaper with offices at the other end of the parking lot.

She was the advertising manager at the newspaper, which serves Acton, Agua Dulce and southern Antelope Valley, a spokeswoman for the paper said. The couple’s son, Vincent C. Etheredge, is the newspaper’s publisher.

George Etheredge operated an antique mall in Agua Dulce, acquaintances said. Jean Etheredge was also a member of a country-and-Western band that played local engagements.

Deputies said the husband and wife drove separately to a lot in the 31900 block of Crown Valley Road. It was unclear if their meeting was prearranged or if George Etheredge had stopped his wife on her way to work.

“The meeting soon escalated into an argument upon which George Etheredge produced a gun and fired several rounds into the car,” Deputy Gabe Ramirez said.

Jean Etheredge, who was seated behind the steering wheel, was shot three times, Ramirez said. Her husband then drove away.

Though badly wounded, the woman managed to get out of her car and stagger into the saloon where there were several employees and customers. The employees and customers huddled around the injured woman, trying to stop her bleeding by wrapping her in tablecloths.

Jean Etheredge’s son rushed to the saloon shortly after the shooting and was at her side as she was flown by helicopter to Antelope Valley Hospital Medical Center in Lancaster. She died at the hospital about 1:30 p.m., officials said.

About half an hour after the shooting, a passer-by found George Etheredge’s body behind his car, which had been pulled onto the shoulder of Soledad Canyon Road about a mile south of Crown Valley Road, deputies said. The trunk of the car was open, and a shotgun was found next to the body. He had been killed with a single blast to the head.