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04-20-2011, 12:37 PM
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Wisconsin Man Sentenced in Hudson Standoff
Daniel Christenson, 43, was sentenced in St. Croix County after firing dozens of rounds inside his Hudson, Wisconsin, home during a 2009 family dispute, a standoff that ended when police shot and wounded him. St. Croix County sheriff's officials said Christenson had been drinking on the night of Oct. 17, 2009, when he argued with his 19-year-old son, Zachary, pulled out a handgun and began firing inside the home on St. Croix Heights. Zachary Christenson called 911 while three friends, ages 13 to 15, hid in a basement closet. Dispatchers stayed on the line for about 20 minutes as gunfire was audible in the background, police said. Investigators later said Christenson fired at least two dozen rounds, including several toward the closet. All four teenagers escaped unharmed by breaking a basement window and climbing out, though one of the younger teens was later bitten by a police dog amid the chaos outside, court records show. About 50 officers from several Wisconsin agencies surrounded the house through the night. Negotiators could not reach Christenson by phone. Around 12:43 a.m., after hours without contact, deputies fired pepper-spray canisters into the house. Christenson responded by shooting at deputies, who returned fire and wounded him, then walked out the front door and raised his gun at officers before an officer fired again, St. Croix County Chief Deputy John Shilts said. Christenson was airlifted to Regions Hospital in St. Paul in critical condition with wounds to his chest and abdomen. The deputies involved were placed on administrative leave pending a standard internal review. No officers or teenagers were hurt by gunfire. Prosecutors initially charged Christenson with seven felonies, including three counts of attempted first-degree intentional homicide. He pleaded guilty in January 2011 to two counts of first-degree reckless endangerment and a misdemeanor count of operating a firearm while intoxicated. A St. Croix County judge sentenced him that April to five and a half years in prison and five years of extended supervision, plus seven and a half years of probation on the second felony count and eight months in jail on the misdemeanor, to run concurrently. "Confinement is needed to protect the public," Judge Scott Needham said at sentencing. "Probation will unduly depreciate the seriousness of the offense."
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