Norco man fires gun at wife in wild squabble

‘It’s a miracle no one was killed; this was a violent situation’

A 46-year-old man was charged with attempted first-degree murder after he shot at his wife with a high-powered Glock 40-cal. handgun at their home in Norco, the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office reports.Rodney Payne, 46, of 425 St. Charles Street, also jabbed his teenage son in the stomach with a broomstick and tried to shoot the knob off a door after his wife slammed it shut and locked it behind her, reports say.

“It’s a miracle no one was killed,” Sgt. Dwayne LaGrange told the Herald-Guide.

“It was a very violent situation.”

The drama reportedly unfolded on the evening of Oct. 2 after Payne and his wife, Toni, began arguing for reasons that aren’t yet entirely clear.

The woman fled the couple’s home with their teenage son, but when they returned the next morning to pick up some clothes, say reports, the squabbling began anew.

Payne demanded that the woman hand over breakfast food she had picked up from a fast-food restaurant. He also began to argue with his son, police say.

Words allegedly turned to violence when Payne snatched up a broomstick and jabbed his son in the stomach.

The man, reports continue, then ran into a bedroom and and got a a Glock 40-cal. handgun, described by a weapons expert as being “capable of delivering a lethal blow to most anything it hits.”

Payne shot at his wife but missed, say police, adding that they found a bullet lodged in a wall.

Payne reportedly left the house, and when he did, his wife locked the front door behind him.

Payne then fired the weapon again in an attempt to blow the door open, reports say.

While the alleged gunman was distracted, the wife telephoned for help.

Payne was charged with attempted first degree murder, aggravated battery and illegal discharge of a firearm.

Bond was set at $175,000 by Judge Emile St. Pierre.