DTV Transition Failure Leads Man to Shoot TV

WEBB CITY, Mo. -- A man angry about the shut-off of his cable-television service and subsequent inability to convert his analog TV to pick up DTV signals shot his television set Wednesday afternoon, scaring his wife out of the house and holding off a SWAT team in a two-hour standoff.

Police Chief Carl Francis told the Joplin Globe newspaper that the wife of Walter Hoover, 70, walked a couple blocks to a police station and reported that her husband had been drinking, was angry with a shut-off of his cable service, and had gotten his guns out.

"He actually fired two rounds before she left the residence," Francis told the Joplin Globe.

The television set was struck by two shots. He said he did not know why the couple's cable service had been shut off.

When police showed up, Hoover was seen at the front door with a handgun, flanked by American and Confederate flags hanging from poles by the doorway, the newspaper reported. He then went back inside and returned with a high-powered hunting rifle, prompting a large response from surrounding police agencies. Hoover surrendered later without any more shots fired.

Hoover was arrested on a felony count of unlawful use of a weapon.

Many television stations nationwide switch to digital signals Feb. 17, which required television viewers with older "analog" sets and rabbit ears to add a converter box to their setup.

KTVL News10 is the only Rogue Valley broadcast station to continue broadcasting in both analog and digital until an extended federal deadline in June.