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SANTA ANA (CNS) - A 39-year-old Laguna Niguel man involved in a standoff with Orange County sheriff's deputies was charged Tuesday with attempted murder.
Justin Derek Jennings was charged with two counts of attempted murder and single felony counts each of assault with a semiautomatic rifle on a peace officer and shooting at a helicopter. Jennings also faces sentencing enhancements for attempted premeditated murder and shooting a gun.
Sheriff's deputies were called to the 31000 block of Golden Lantern about 9 p.m. Saturday where a man fired a rifle inside a home during a family dispute, Orange County sheriff's Sgt. Frank Gonzalez said.
Deputies placed the neighborhood on lockdown for a short time after the suspect fired the weapon again after family members got out of the home he was in, Gonzalez said.
Some of the bullets nearly struck deputies outside the house and a sheriff's helicopter, Gonzalez said.
The standoff lasted about 30 minutes, according to Gonzalez.
Jennings did not enter a plea at his arraignment in the jail courtroom in Santa Ana on Tuesday, and the hearing was rescheduled for March 29 in the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach.