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A Wilbraham man was ordered held without bail after allegedly assaulting his wife and pointing a gun at her before barricading himself in his home with an arsenal of weapons and threatening police, officials said. He surrendered to authorities after firing “numerous” shots around his house on Oct. 3, according to a police report filed in court. Nidal Sholi, 34, was arraigned in Palmer District Court on Oct. 10 and charged with assault and battery on a family member and unlicensed possession of an assault weapon, among other charges, Hampden District Attorney Anthony D. Gulluni’s office said Tuesday. The incident began around 6 a.m., when Sholi woke up after “drinking vodka all night” and asked his wife to stay in bed with him, the report stated. When his wife told him she had to go to work, an argument erupted and Sholi allegedly tried to strangle the woman and smashed her head against a nightstand, according to the report. She was able to escape the home and was backing out of the driveway in her car when Sholi allegedly approached her, leveling a gun at the car, the report stated. Advertisement Sholi did not fire at his wife, who called 911 to report the incident shortly after 7 a.m. after driving to a friend’s house, according to the report. Officers arrived at the house and called Sholi on the phone, asking him to leave the home unarmed, the report said. “You better not sent [sic] anyone,” Sholi replied, according to the report. “You’re not coming in my house, the only way I’m coming out is dead.” Sholi then hung up and did not respond to further calls, police wrote. Officers next heard “several shots” coming from the home. Police gave a shelter-in-place order for the surrounding neighborhood, the report stated. Sholi’s wife told police that her husband had been drinking heavily to cope with the stress of his job and their recent move to Wilbraham. Advertisement “[Sholi] is prescribed anti-depressants and has suffered concussions in the past from sports injuries,” she told police, according to the report. State Police crisis negotiators sent a robot into the home and found Sholi passed out on his bed, surrounded by an AR-style rifle, a pistol, and an open bottle of vodka, the report stated. Sholi was then “directed to the exterior of the home and taken into custody,” police wrote. Inside the home, police found 11 guns, including three that met “the statutory definition of an assault weapon,” prosecutors said. Police also recovered approximately 5,000 rounds of ammunition, the report stated. Sholi legally owned seven guns, police said. Sholi’s attorney could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday. Truman Dickerson can be reached at truman.dickerson@globe.com.
