KELSEYVILLE, Calif. (AP) - Authorities say a dentist was defending himself when he shot and wounded his estranged wife who had attacked him with a pickax.

The Lake County Sheriff's Department says dentist Don Johnson shot his wife, Margaret Johnson, once in the neck after she broke into their home with a pickax.

She was taken to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital and listed in stable, but critical condition.

The couple was not living together and Margaret Johnson had been
served with a restraining order the day of the shooting.

Don Johnson says his wife broke through a window after he had gone to bed Friday and that she entered the house armed with a pickax. Authorities say Johnson fired one shot, then called the sheriff's department.

Charges against Margaret Johnson are pending further investigation.

---
Information from: The Press Democrat, http://www.pressdemo.com

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

AP-NY-05-04-08 2021EDT