An 80-year-old man is behind bars on a $500,000 cash-only bond after Larimer County deputies say he shot and injured an adult family member inside a home near Loveland Thursday afternoon. Ralph Vaughan was taken into custody at the Page Place residence without incident, and the victim was rushed to an area hospital for treatment.
According to the Larimer County Sheriff's Office, deputies and Loveland Police Department officers responded to reports of a shooting in progress just before 4:30 p.m. on September 10 in the 4200 block of Page Place. Responding units located both Vaughan and the victim, an adult relative, at the scene. The sheriff's office says the victim is expected to recover.
The address is in a stretch of unincorporated Larimer County near Loveland, and both county deputies and municipal police responded, as North Forty News reported. That outlet's reporting also confirmed Vaughan, 80, was taken into custody without further incident.
Medical Response and Booking Timeline
Emergency medical and rescue crews from the Loveland Fire Rescue Authority and Thompson Valley EMS supported officers at the scene, and the injured relative was transported to the hospital. Vaughan himself was taken to a hospital for an unrelated medical issue before he was formally booked into the Larimer County Jail, the county's announcement noted. He was booked on September 11 and held on the $500,000 cash-only bond set by the court.
Felony and Misdemeanor Charges Filed
Vaughan faces three charges stemming from the incident: attempted murder in the first degree with deliberation and intent involving a firearm, first degree assault against a family member with a firearm, and reckless endangerment. Attempted first-degree murder is classified as a Class 2 felony, according to Bacharach Law.
The first-degree assault charge is a Class 3 felony that, per the Colorado Legal Defense Group, carries 4 to 12 years in prison — or as much as 4 to 16 years for extraordinary risk and 10 to 32 years for a crime-of-violence sentence — plus fines of up to $750,000. The reckless endangerment charge, by contrast, is a Class 2 misdemeanor carrying a maximum of 120 days in county jail under Colorado sentencing guidelines.
Case Moves to the 8th Judicial District
The case is identified with the 8th Judicial District Attorney's Office. Colorado law includes mandatory protection orders in the domestic-violence framework.
The sources cited here do not provide sentencing statistics for attempted murder or violent-assault convictions.
The sheriff's office emphasized that the charges against Vaughan remain accusations at this stage, and that he is presumed innocent until proven guilty. The exact circumstances that led to the shooting have not been detailed publicly, and it remains unclear whether the medical issue that sent Vaughan to the hospital after his arrest is connected to the incident itself.
