CHP Officer Held in Neighbor’s Shooting Death : Violence: The slaying ends an 18-month feud over a fence. The suspect is on disability leave for stress and the victim had a reputation for a quick temper.

A California Highway Patrol officer suffering from stress and a neighbor with a temper feuded for 18 months over a fence before the dispute erupted in a shooting that left the neighbor dead and the officer facing a murder charge.

“ ‘You can only take so much,’ ” another neighbor quoted CHP Officer Jack Thomas as saying after he shot Gordon Lee Chance Jr., his next-door neighbor in this Sacramento suburb.

The 19-year CHP veteran, who said he acted in self-defense, is scheduled to be arraigned today.

Last week’s shooting ended a dispute that otherwise would have been noteworthy only for its intensity, neighbors and acquaintances of the men said.

Thomas, 44, had been on paid disability leave since Jan. 1 for stress and had planned to file for disability retirement, authorities said.

Acquaintances of Chance, 36, describe him as a maverick with a bad temper who worked a variety of jobs, including modeling for male pinup calendars,

Sheriff’s investigators said Thomas shot and killed Chance shortly after the victim cut down a section of the five-foot-high fence Thomas had constructed between their properties. Chance said the fence was so tall it obstructed his view. Ordinances in the area do not bar such a fence.

Thomas’ claim of self-defense was based partially on seeing a shiny object in Chance’s hands, authorities said. Investigators said the object was a beer can. Thomas also told investigators Chance had threatened him and his family.

Chance worked as a newspaper carrier for nearly eight years and performed various odd jobs, such as modeling for what one of his supervisors at The Sacramento Bee said were male pinup calendars.

“Gordon was a maverick who . . . did things his own way. He was a carpenter by trade and did a lot of side jobs,” said the supervisor, Linda Hamilton. Chance also “definitely had a temper, no doubt about it,” she said.

Thomas, whose record was spotless, “is an excellent officer with 19 years’ experience. . . . He is really a credit to the organization,” said Ron von Rejcs, assistant chief of the patrol’s Valley Division.

The two neighbors had been feuding for 18 months over the fence, but the dispute flared a few months ago when Chance turned on his sprinklers while Thomas was working on the fence, neighbors said.

After the fence was completed Thursday, Chance took a chain saw and cut down a 25-foot section at ground level, according to authorities. Thomas had Chance arrested for vandalism and began to repair the fence. Chance was booked into County Jail on a misdemeanor charge and released on his own recognizance with a promise to appear in court.

When Chance returned home, Thomas got his service revolver from his house, sheriff’s deputies said.

“He had the pistol, and then he was advanced upon by the neighbor, who was holding a shiny object behind his back. He then shot him, fearing for his life,” said Sheriff Glen Craig.

The number of shots fired, five, is not unusual, Craig said. Officers are trained to empty their weapon when their life is threatened, he said.