
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, June 8, 1993                   TAG: 9306080164
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE                                LENGTH: Short

MAN PLEADS GUILTY IN GUN THREATS AGAINST RANGERS

A man who kept Shenandoah National Park rangers at bay for 12 hours in June 1991 pleaded guilty Monday to threatening them with a gun and possessing a gun after being declared a felon.

In return for Thomas E. Shepherd's guilty pleas, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ray Fitzgerald dropped a third charge, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.

The plea agreement stipulates that a judge will be asked to give Shepherd, 54, of Piney Point, Md., the minimum sentence under federal guidelines. Authorities said they were unsure what kind of sentence the guidelines will define until they see a pre-sentencing report, which could take several months.

According to authorities, Shepherd told a waitress at the Shenandoah National Park's Big Meadows Campground that he was depressed and might kill himself. Park rangers and counselors met and talked with Shepherd for an hour before Shepherd, sitting in his van, waved a gun at rangers.

Shepherd later drove out of the campground and was followed by rangers. They set up a roadblock on Skyline Drive near the Crescent Rock overlook, where the standoff resumed.

Gunfire was exchanged, but no one was hit, before Shepherd eventually surrendered.

by CNB