Mendocino College coach, wife arrested on suspicion of child endangerment

A Mendocino College coach and his wife, a spokeswoman at the school, were arrested late last month after a fight in which the man supposedly fired a shotgun round into the couple’s ceiling in front of their young children, Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office announced Tuesday afternoon.

Authorities identified the couple as Conor Bird, 38, head baseball coach for Mendocino College, and Janelle Bird, 34, listed on the school’s website as director of community relations and communication.

Both were arrested on Oct. 28 in their Redwood Valley home after Janelle Bird dialed 911 at about 3:16 a.m. to report she and her husband had been in a physical fight. She warned authorities her husband was outside of the home and was armed with an unknown weapon, the Sheriff’s Office said in a press release.

Sheriff’s deputies heard a child screaming from inside the Harris Court home when they arrived. They knocked on the front door several times with no reply before forcing their way inside.

The pair was inside and both showed signs of heavy alcohol intoxication, the press release said. Deputies determined the couple had fought earlier that night and at one point, Conor Bird reportedly armed himself with a shotgun and fired a single round into the home’s ceiling while their boys, ages 4 and 2, were nearby, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies found a hole in the home’s ceiling, a spent shotgun shell and a loaded shotgun on the back porch, the office said.

The husband and wife were booked into the Mendocino County Jail that day on suspicion of felony child endangerment, with Conor Bird facing an additional count of negligent discharge of a firearm.

The two children were placed in the care of child protective services, authorities said.

Janelle Bird answered a call Tuesday afternoon at a number listed on the Mendocino College website but declined to answer a reporter’s questions about the incident, saying she preferred questions via email. She did not reply to an email listed on the college’s website in her name, and a call to a different number she provided was not returned by Tuesday afternoon. A call to a number and an email listed on the college’s website for Conor Bird was not returned.

You can reach Staff Writer Nashelly Chavez at nashelly.chavez@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @nashellytweets.