Suspect In Deadly Bait Shop Shooting Kills Self During Standoff

A Lancaster County man who held authorities at bay for nearly six hours following a fatal shooting at a bait shop was found dead in his home from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, deputies said.

The standoff began around 10 a.m. when authorities said Darren Winchester shot at the coroner and investigators outside Cedar Creek Tackle. Deputies said the 46-year-old was firing from a window at a house across from the store.

Special Weapons and Tactics teams converged on the home along with armored vehicles and local and state police. Around 4 p.m., deputies entered the house after hearing the gunshot and discovered Winchester’s body in an upstairs room.

Winchester was a suspect in the fatal shooting of the bait shop owner, 55-year-old Ronnie Cairnes, earlier Wednesday.

“Ronnie came out of the store, and the fellow across the street shot him in the eye . . . killed him,” said David Cairnes, the bait shop owner’s brother.

Residents said Winchester had several previous arrests and had made threats against Ronnie Cairnes for longer than a year.

"He's always shooting across the street and into the air. The cops come out, and the next day he's out of jail again," said neighbor Ronald Pate. “He’s a terrorizer of the neighborhood.”

Sheriff's investigators confirm a long-running feud between the victim's family and Winchester, but did not immediately have information about past charges against him.

David Cairnes said his brother repeatedly told Winchester to stay out of his store after he caused a commotion there several times. He said Winchester made threats, and Wednesday morning, he finally carried them out.

"They let him out of jail. Now my brother's dead," Cairnes said.

Several neighbors said they thought something like this would happen.

"He just flipped and lost it," one of them said.

Cairnes was a father of two grown boys and a grandfather. He ran the bait shop for about four years.

Authorities are also investigating after some human remains were found in a wooded area near Highway 97 in southern Lancaster County. Deputies left that scene when they were called about the shooting. At this point, investigators don't believe the incidents are connected.