REDDING, Calif. —
Updated as of 4:45 p.m. Wednesday, June 19, 2019:
Redding police have arrested Theodore Loos, 73, after he allegedly attacked his family with a splitting maul.
Investigators say Loos went to his son's room early this morning with the axe and attempted to hit his son with the blunt edge of the weapon. The son was able to escape the attack when the daughter woke up to the struggle and screamed, distracting Loos.
Loos then allegedly hit his daughter with the blunt end of the maul before both kids escaped to their mother's bedroom. There, the kids told police, they found their mother in bed with massive wounds to her head and face.
The daughter ran to a neighbor's house to call the police while the son stayed behind to try and disarm Loos, who now had a knife as well as the axe.
Loos was arrested when officers arrived and has been booked into the Shasta County Jail. He has been charged with three counts of attempted murder, three counts of assault with a deadly weapon, one count of domestic violence, and two counts of causing injury to a child.
The rest of the family was taken to the hospital for their injuries. Both kids were treated for minor injuries. The mother is in critical condition and has life threatening injuries that required surgery.
According to The State Bar of California's
website, which was updated as recent as 2019, Theodore Loos is a Public Defender with Shasta County.
