Felon, 22, Charged in Silverado Shooting

A 22-year-old Silverado man was charged Friday with firing multiple rounds near an equestrian center at Jackson Ranch in Silverado Canyon.

Tyler Maxwell Tennigkeit was charged with 10 felony counts of discharging a firearm with gross negligence, a felony count of possession of a firearm by a felon and a misdemeanor count of driving under the influence of drugs with a prior misdemeanor conviction for alcohol-related reckless driving.

Tennigkeit pleaded not guilty to all of the charges at his arraignment today. He was ordered to return to court for a pretrial hearing Aug. 5.

Tennigkeit allegedly fired multiple rounds from a home at the equestrian center about 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, according to the Orange County District Attorney's Office. Several people were at the equestrian center, including children, when the gunfire rang out.

Witnesses said they heard bullets whizzing by them and ricocheting off trees, according to Orange County sheriff's Lt. Jeff Hallock.

About an hour after the shooting, Tennigkeit crashed a vehicle into a curb near Silverado Canyon Road, about five miles south of the equestrian center, prosecutors said.

Tennigkeit appeared to be under the influence of drugs when he was arrested, according to prosecutors.

Tennigkeit has a history of weapons and drug convictions.

According to Orange County Superior Court records, he pleaded guilty Aug. 2, 2011, to carrying a loaded, unregistered gun, illegal possession of a firearm by a convict while on probation and two counts of possession of a deadly weapon, all felonies. He was sentenced to 16 months in prison.

He pleaded guilty March 29, 2011, to possession of a deadly weapon and possession of a controlled substance without a prescription, both misdemeanors. He was put on three years of informal probation and ordered to do 10 days of community service.

Authorities served a search warrant Wednesday night at the suspect's residence, located next to the equestrian center.

They recovered a weapon from his bedroom, along with shell casings outside his home that were the same caliber as the weapon, Hallock said.

"The investigation is ongoing, and (there is) no indication as to why the suspect was shooting," Hallock said.

When authorities first went to the equestrian center on the shots-fired report, they evacuated several people from the area. SWAT officers later took seven to eight more people off the property, Hallock said.

Tennigkeit faces up to 11 years and eight months in prison.

- City News Service