By David Grant Long

Apparently driven over the brink of sanity by a neighbor’s barking dog, a man who had fired more than 150 rounds at police and the world in general was fatally shot Tuesday by the same Montezuma County sheriff’s officer he’d wounded during an eight-hour standoff at a local trailer park.

William Baldwin, reportedly a heavy drinker and quite possibly intoxicated at the time, died instantly from a bullet to the head after he’d erupted onto the porch of his residence at Vista Verde Village with gun blazing around 9:40 a.m., according to Sheriff Joey Chavez.

"He came out shooting and we shot back," Chavez said shortly after the conclusion of the incident. Baldwin had superficially wounded Sgt. William Conner, a member of the sheriff’s SWAT team, with a shotgun blast fired from the doorway of his residence during a previous barrage about three hours earlier. Conner was wearing body armor, but three BBs penetrated unprotected areas of his back and side.

Although he declined to identify either Conner or Baldwin, Chavez did confirm the deranged shooter had been brought down by the same officer he’d shot. (On orders from District Attorney Mike Green, the sheriff’s office yesterday was still refusing to release the name of the dead man or its injured officer; however, the Journal learned their identities elsewhere.)

Chavez said dogs barking near Baldwin’s residence had apparently "set him off" and that he’d remained extremely hostile throughout the standoff. Neighbors also reported Baldwin had often complained about loose dogs, and one man said his initial shots sounded as though he might have been pursuing one outside his home.

Conner was initially treated at the scene and his buckshot wound was determined not to be life-threatening. He was later patched up at Southwest Memorial Hospital and released, according to a hospital spokesperson.

He is the fourth law-enforcement officer to be shot in the past 18 months. In May 1998, Cortez Patrolman Dale Claxton died in a hail of bullets and sheriff’s Detective Todd Martin and Deputy Jason Bishop were badly wounded pursuing his killers.

Baldwin, a Vietnam veteran known as "Sarge," began his shooting spree shortly after 1 a.m., according to Detective Lt. Kalvin Boggs, and officers from both his department and the Cortez Police responded, setting up a command post and evacuating nearby neighbors before trying to get the suspect to give himself up.

"We (the SWAT team) had a dialogue with him," Boggs said, "and we also had negotiators on the telephone talking to him.

"I couldn’t tell you exactly what he was saying," he added, "but the negotiators were basically trying to talk him into surrendering and bring a peaceful end to it, which unfortunately didn’t happen."

U.S. Highway 160, which runs within yards of his trailer, was also sealed off between Highway 145 and County Road 29 near Totten Lake during the siege.

Baldwin, 49, liked his privacy, according to an acquaintance at the park, and had created a compound-like atmosphere around his residence by erecting a six-foot fence. He was variously described as lonely and reclusive by neighbors, and his hatred for dogs that barked and ran loose was well known, even though he owned two dogs himself.

Chavez said Tuesday his officer had been hit with pellets from the crazed suspect’s shotgun shortly after another man had emerged from the residence and surrendered around daybreak.

The other man, whose identity is also being withheld, was questioned by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and released later Tuesday, according to Boggs, and what role he may have played in the incident was still being investigated.

Boggs said this suspect hadn’t made any statement when he came out, but "complied with our verbal commands and was taken without incident."

Baldwin had been firing intermittently with both a rifle and a shotgun throughout the standoff, according to Boggs, and displayed no signs that his rage was abating before his final fusillade.

"He was basically firing at different intervals all though the early morning -- from inside and outside," Boggs said. "He had been shooting since the initial call had come in and continued right up until that time."

At one point Baldwin appeared on his porch holding a beer, according to scanner reports, and in the company of one of his dogs, but showed no signs he wanted to give up.

"He was yelling and screaming and angry with everything that was going on and did not (attempt to) surrender at all," Boggs recounted.

Attempting to wound and disable Baldwin was not considered, according to Boggs.

"Any time you’re dealing with gunfire like that, that is not a decision that’s easily made or one that is practical," he said, "because that’s not how we train -- we don’t shoot to wound and that was never discussed."

Only five or six shots were fired by members of the SWAT team during the standoff, according to Boggs. He said what weapons were used by the suspect, who reported owned a semi-automatic rifle and a handgun as well as the shotgun, was still being determined by the CBI, whose investigators were still reconstructing the crime scene yesterday.

By Jim Mimiaga And Gail Binkly

William Baldwin, who was killed Tuesday morning outside Cortez by a sheriff’s sniper following an all-night standoff peppered with gunfire, was a troubled man but also could be sociable and talkative, according to acquaintances.

The 49-year-old Vietnam veteran had emotional problems, coveted his privacy, and may have been on anti-depressant medication, according to one man.

"He was always very proud of being a vet," said Galen Friend, a resident and maintenance man of Vista Verde who occasionally talked with Baldwin. "He told me once that he had a lot of emotional problems. But he was a very independent person who pretty much kept to himself, living alone with his two dogs."

Baldwin’s independent, private nature prompted him to install a six-foot fence around a half-acre compound that included a trailer home, RV, and various vehicles and equipment. He was fatally shot by police in front of his home after emerging from the front door wielding a shotgun around 9:40 a.m.

Described as an avid hunter with a mountain-man persona, Baldwin reportedly moved to the Vista Verde park last spring from Naturita. He rarely talked with neighbors and was moody when he did, acting amicable one day and abrasive the next.

"I always kinda felt that something was not quite right about him. But like I said, he was very proud of being a vet and would always bring that up," Friend said. "When I heard shots at 2 a.m. coming from that end of the park, I knew that somehow it involved him."

Baldwin was not known to hold a job, and reportedly suffered from emotional disabilities stemming from time served in the Vietnam War, for which he collected a monthly federal pension. More psychological intervention and counseling for war veterans like Baldwin dealing with the post-traumatic stress might have helped to prevent such a tragedy, Friend speculated.

But a resident of the park who knew Baldwin fairly well said he was surprised at the turn of events and had always thought Baldwin was a likable man.

"I thought he was a good person," said Jody Donaldson. "I really liked that old man. I’d go over and see him and talk to him. He’d let you in and talk and offer you something to drink.

"He just acted like he needed someone to talk to."

Baldwin was indeed still troubled by his war experiences, Donaldson said, and spoke about the war frequently. Donaldson thought he had been married at one time, but was not sure. The veteran had occasional visitors, mostly men his own age -- possibly other veterans.

"But he was usually there alone," Donaldson said. "He liked to go to the mountains a lot, drive around in his old Jeep and fish."

He said he found it difficult to believe that Baldwin’s rampage was prompted by outrage over barking dogs.

"That never bothered him," Donaldson said. "There’s dogs everywhere around here, and they all bark. That’s what they do." Baldwin himself owned a black Lab pup and a dachshund, he said.

However, Baldwin had had disputes with a neighbor over their dogs running onto each other’s property, he said, and in general the veteran was misunderstood by many other park residents.

"He wasn’t a maniac," Donaldson said. "He wasn’t at all. They didn’t know him, not the way we did. They just didn’t take time to understand him."

He said he was having difficulty understanding what had set Baldwin off and the entire chain of events that resulted in the man’s death at the hands of law-enforcement officers.

Friend likewise said that the entire incident was unfortunate.