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CHPD: woman arrested after roommate says she shot him in leg

Melanie Rasmussen
Suspect Melanie Rasmussen was arrested by Citrus Heights Police on attempted murder charges. // Courtesy, CHPD

Police are investigating a shooting that occurred Thursday morning in a residential neighborhood of Citrus Heights, allegedly involving a man being shot by a female roommate.

In a news release issued Thursday evening, police said officers had responded to a report of a man being shot in the backyard of a home on Saint Philomena Way around 10:30 a.m. Thursday morning, located near Fair Oaks Boulevard. Responding officers found a “conscious and alert” 46-year-old man with a gunshot wound, police said.

The man told officers he had been shot a single time in the leg by his roommate, 54-year-old Melanie Rasmussen, who was detained on scene and subsequently arrested. The man was taken to a local hospital where police said he is being treated for a gunshot wound to his torso and is expected to survive.

Rasmussen is charged with attempted murder and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, according to online inmate records from the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department. She is ineligible for bail.

Police called the shooting an isolated incident with “no additional risk to public safety,” but said investigators are still actively searching for a motive in the shooting.

Anyone with information related to the incident is asked to call the Citrus Heights Police Department at (916) 727-5500.

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