A Vinton woman was taken into custody late Wednesday night and charged with the fatal shooting of her boyfriend, officials said.

Tammy D. Spencer, 48, is being held at the Blue Ridge Regional Jail on charges of first-degree murder and use of a firearm in commission of a felony, the Bedford County Sheriff's Office said Thursday. She is being held without bond.

According to Maj. Ricky Gardner, deputies were called to the 1000 block of Forestland Drive in Vinton about 10:30 p.m. There, he said, they found Charles Edwin Pagans, 47, lying on the sofa, the victim of a fatal gunshot wound.

The body has been taken to the medical examiner's office in Roanoke for autopsy.

Spencer and Pagans were in a relationship and were the only occupants of the house at the time of the incident, the sheriff's office said. Spencer has been identified as the person who made the 911 call.

Spencer's single-story house stands at the end of a long, steep driveway just off Virginia 24 and, on Thursday, it was surrounded with yellow tape from the sheriff's office. Old tire tracks bisected the front and side yard, and a pickup truck, still heavily loaded with brush, sat parked beside the house. A "No Trespassing" sign is posted on a tree by the driveway.

Residents of the neighborhood on Thursday said the couple kept to themselves but were known for their enthusiasm for firearms. Two neighbors who did not wish to be identified said Pagans frequently used a gun for target shooting in Spencer's back yard, and another said it was not uncommon to hear shots fired from the yard as late as 3 a.m.

"We're always hearing gunfire" at night, said Bonnie Dennis, who lives two houses down from Spencer. "If something ever really happened, none of us would've known."

Bruce Scruggs and his niece, Megan Weaver, both of Garden City, used to live next door to Pagans. Scruggs said he and Pagans were friends for more than 30 years and on Thursday described the relationship between his friend and Spencer in volatile terms.

"I'm not surprised," Scruggs said of Wednesday night's incident. "He was crazy in the head but he had a good heart."

In 2006, Pagans held police at a standoff at his home for more than three hours before surrendering peacefully. Though Pagans was charged with brandishing a firearm and discharging a firearm in an occupied building, those charges were later dismissed.

The same year, Pagans was found guilty of possession of a controlled substance in Roanoke. In February of last year he was found guilty in Bedford County General District Court of assault and battery and was sentenced to a year in jail with six months suspended. In 2001, he was convicted in Roanoke of driving under the influence, hit and run and carrying a concealed weapon.

"He's always been a gun addict," Scruggs told The Roanoke Times in 2006, after the standoff occurred. "He loves his weapons."