3 dead, 4 wounded in shootout in central Virginia

LOUISA, Va. — A man who shot and killed his son and nephew and wounded four other relatives had been involved in an ongoing family dispute over a piece of property in a rural central Virginia neighborhood, authorities said today.

Sheriff’s deputies had been called to the property nearly two dozen times in recent years — including once earlier in the day Sunday — before Charles P. Steadman Sponaugle, 52, opened fire on his family members, Louisa sheriff’s Maj. Donnie Lowe said.

Sponaugle fired at two deputies and unleashed his pit bull at them before deputies responded, fatally shooting both Sponaugle and the dog, said Corinne Geller, a Virginia State Police spokeswoman.

Deputies had been called out to the property around 2 p.m. Sunday and a dispute was resolved. But they were called again around 4:45 p.m. when Sponaugle opened fire with a .22-caliber semiautomatic target pistol, Geller said.

Sponaugle shot and killed his son, Charles P. Steadman, 29, and nephew Mark A. Cooper Jr., 23. Also shot were his sister, Kitty L. Cooper, 41; brother-in-law Mark A. Cooper Sr., 45; and nephews Gerald A. Steadman Jr., 26, and Jason C. Steadman, 27.

Jason Steadman was flown to the University of Virginia Medical Center with life-threatening injuries. Gerald Steadman was held overnight for observation, and Kitty and Mark Cooper Sr. were treated and released.

P.T. Spencer, a member of the Louisa County Board of Supervisors, said today that Sponaugle and two other relatives had an ongoing dispute over a 1.5-acre lot after Sponaugle’s mother died without leaving a will.

“We’ve had problems with them,” Spencer said of Sponaugle’s family. He estimated the property was worth “$25,000, if that. It’s just insane.”

Geller said there were multiple residences on the property, and Sponaugle lived at the home where the shootings took place.

Since 2001, deputies had been called out to the property 23 times, but the disputes had never gotten physical, Lowe said.

Today, several people gathered outside the weathered mobile home with boarded-up windows, telling reporters to leave the property, located off a dirt road. A few dogs were held in a pin in the front yard.