Shafter man shot during standoff pleaded not guilty

UPDATE (April 3, 4:45 p.m. p.m.) 

John Wells, 55, the suspect who was shot in Saturday night's standoff in Shafter pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to multiple charges.

Those charges included assault with a deadly weapon, brandishing a firearm and resisting arrest as well as 7 counts of attempted murder and 1 count of assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer.

He is due back in court on April 11.

Wells was medically cleared and booked in the central receiving facility on Sunday.

The Kern County Sheriff's Office SWAT team was on scene at a home in Shafter Saturday night and early Sunday morning to assist the Shafter Police Department with a situation that started out as a theft investigation.

KCSO said Wells brandished a firearm and ran back inside of the home on Atlantic Avenue near North Valley.

Around 9 p.m. his mother came out of the home. 

Shots were fired around 11:15 p.m. and Wells refused to come out even after getting shot in the chest, KCSO said. 

The deputies involved in the shooting were not injured and their identities have not yet been released. Authorities served a search warrant at the home around 4:45 a.m. on Sunday.