SON'S STANDOFF STATUS SHOCKING

James Peoples was watching television Monday night when he heard Cass
County Sheriff Joe Underwood say that Peoples' son, Brandon, had suffered
injuries at the Rainbow Farm Campground. He instantly sat up in his chair
and wondered if he had heard correctly. "It was like, 'What (did he say)?'
" he said.

He said that was the first time he knew his 18-year-old son had been at the
campground, where a standoff by property owner Tom Crosslin, 46, and
Crosslin's roommate, Rolland Rohm, 28, ended Tuesday with the shooting
death of Rohm.

Rohm's death occurred just hours after Crosslin, too, was shot and killed
by authorities. Police said both men had pointed rifles at law enforcement
officials -- Crosslin at an FBI agent and Rohm at a Michigan State trooper
- -- before they were killed.

Underwood said Crosslin had left the farmhouse in a huff after negotiations
for his surrender broke down. The sheriff said Crosslin carried the rifle
as he walked along the perimeter of the farm, accompanied by Brandon Peoples.

Peoples received minor injuries, Underwood said, even though he apparently
wasn't shot. At a press conference Tuesday, the sheriff said Peoples wasn't
in custody and authorities hadn't yet decided whether he'd be charged in
connection with the standoff.

James Peoples said he was "shocked" when he learned Brandon was at the
farm, in part because the standoff began Friday when Crosslin allegedly
torched the first of several buildings on the property. The elder Peoples
said he knew Brandon couldn't have been at the farm all four days because
he had borrowed his father's Jeep and returned it on Saturday.

James Peoples said he immediately called the sheriff's department but was
told Brandon wasn't there. He said he then called the residence where
Brandon has been staying recently and was told his son was taking a shower.

When his son called back a few minutes later, the conversation was brief.

"He said he was OK. He said he had been wounded in the neck and shoulder
but he couldn't talk about it," he said.

Attempts to talk to Brandon Tuesday were unsuccessful. A woman at the house
where he has been staying said police had asked him not to discuss the
situation at the campground.

However, she said Brandon had gone to the farm Monday, in an apparent
attempt to support Crosslin and Rohm.

The woman, who asked that she not be identified, said Brandon had walked to
the campground through two and a half miles of woods, approaching it from
the north or from behind the farmhouse.

"Brandon was close to Tom and Rollie. I don't know why he went out there,
except for support," she said. "We tried to talk him out of it."

James Peoples said Brandon was a friend of Crosslin, having been at the
farm and campground on a number of occasions to cut the grass. He said
Brandon had moved out of his parents' house only two months ago, so he
could live with a friend in a residence behind the Rainbow Farm Campground.

The elder Peoples said Brandon had worked at the McDonald's in Cassopolis
until about two weeks ago. He said he dropped out of Ross Beatty High
School a year ago but has been attending adult education classes to get his
diploma.

He said Brandon had borrowed his Jeep so he could look for another job.

Although he questioned the thinking of his son in going to the farmhouse,
he said Brandon would have had no trouble walking through the woods to
reach it.

"I know I wouldn't have been there," he said.

He said he would have expected, too, that police would have called to
inform him of his son's involvement.

"It could have been handled better," he said.