Cap City community emerged from isolation late Thursday afternoon, Feb. 11, after law enforcement officials closed Highway 274 to traffic following a shootout between law enforcement officers and a homeowner the previous day.

Anthony Bertoni, 56, who lived at the intersection of Highway 274 and County Road 4044 on the Henderson and Kaufman Counties' border, died after exchanging gunfire with law enforcement officers, according to crime reports. He barricaded himself in his Cedar Creek Lake-area home for seven hours before exiting the house and firing on a riot squad.

The standoff followed Bertoni's shooting of a neighbor Feb. 10 about 7 a.m. with a shotgun. A helicopter transported the wounded neighbor to Baylor Medical Center in Dallas where he was treated and released.

Bertoni sealed himself in his house as law enforcement officers from the sheriff departments of Henderson and Kaufman Counties and the Texas Department of Public Safety gathered across the highway on the Calvary Baptist Church parking lot.

Residents in the area stayed inside their homes at the demand of officers.

Bertoni fired on the officers as the standoff started then withdrew inside again. Using riot gear and an armored vehicle, the officers flattened a fence surrounding the house and finally, the gunfire felled Bertoni after the lengthy standoff.

Negotiators attempted but failed to convince Bertoni to surrender.

Officers rerouted traffic from Highway 274 along county roads from the Tolosa Community through Cap City and back on to Highway 274 throughout the night and most of the next day.

Squad cars sat with lights flashing all night on Highway 274 and County Road 4044 blocking traffic and pedestrians from getting near the shooting scene.

The highway and county road remained closed for about 24 hours after the shooting as officers investigated the shooting scene and collected evidence for a Texas Rangers investigation. The standoff disrupted mail service and all other deliveries to many residences in the area, including school bus service.

A running dispute between Bertoni, who was described by Henderson County Sheriff Ray Nutt as an agitator who harassed people, and the neighbor is believed to be the cause of the shooting.

An acquaintance of Bertoni living on Highway 274 who had known him several years said he appeared to be suffering from schizophrenia and often told her neighbors called him names and taunted him. She said he moved to the area from California within the last decade, and that he built the high fence around the small frame house the riot squad tore down.

Bertoni was estranged from the adopted parents who raised him, she said.

Bertoni posted small signs warning of "murder" and "suicide" and incoherrent, rambling letters on a vehicle that sat in front of his house. The damaged vehicle remains in front of the house where the armored vehicle shoved it out of the way before knocking down the fence.