Shane Vendrell

Shane Vendrell
Name:	Shane Vendrell
Alias:	Cletus Van Damme Mr. Wilson Shawn Hoover
Affiliation:	Strike Team Los Angeles Police Department
Profession:	Detective
Marital status:	Married
Spouse(s):	Mara Sewell
Significant other(s):	Amy (ex-girlfriend) Tilli (ex-lover)
Children:	Jackson Vendrell (son)
Status:	Deceased
Played by:	Walton Goggins
Season(s):	1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7
Died:	"Family Meeting" Suicide by gunshot wound
First episode:	"Pilot"
Last episode:	"Family Meeting"
Also in:	The Shield: The Game

Shane Vendrell was a Los Angeles Police Department detective working at the Barn in Farmington, and a member of the Strike Team.

Early life and Strike Team

Little is known about his early life, however he did mention that he was from Atlanta, Georgia. In the episode "Cracking Ice", Shane mentioned that he is nothing like his father, suggesting that he had a bad relationship with his father.

At some point, Shane became an LAPD detective, partnered in the Vice Division with Vic Mackey who would become his best friend.

When Assistant Chief Ben Gilroy offered Mackey to lead the Strike Team, an experimental anti-gang unit, Mackey decided to take Shane and Detective Ronnie Gardocki with him.

Shane, who by that time had met and befriended Detective Curtis "Lem" Lemansky, vouched for Lem to join the team. They were soon joined by Robbery Division Detective Terry Crowley who was put in the team as a possible replacement for Vic by Captain Aceveda.

Season 1

Terry Crowley's murder

Shane and the Strike Team helped Vic Mackey arrest Booty inside a market. They arrested him and took him to the Barn. Shane and Vic later met with drug dealer Rondell Robinson, while Detective Terry Crowley watched them. He was also with Mackey when they went to threaten Miguel Esteana, who had filed a complaint against Mackey for police abuse.

Shane witnesses Mackey murder Detective Terry Crowley.

Later at a BBQ at Vic's house, Shane and the team went through the plans for the raid at Two-Time's house that night, all while he and Vic plotted to kill Terry after they learned from Gilroy that Terry is an undercover informant.

During the raid, Shane and Vic went in behind Ronnie Gardocki and Curtis Lemansky. When they found Two-Time in the bathroom disposing of his drugs, he shot at them. Shane and Vic shot back and killed him. As Terry Crowley walked in, Mackey took Two-Time's gun and shot Crowley in the face with Shane as his only witness.

Aftermath of Terry's murder

Shane is interrogated by IAD.

As they waited outside the hospital for the results, Officer Danny Sofer arrived and tried to comfort him. After Crowley was announced dead, an investigation on the Strike Team was started, led by Internal Affairs. Shane was interrogated by investigator Frances Housely, who wanted to know how the team felt around Crowley since he was the newest member of the team. Shane assured her that once Vic put someone in the team, they all took care of each other.

During Crowley's funeral, Shane was visibly distraught and stepped aside to smoke a cigarette. As Vic went with him trying to calm him, he told Vic that he couldn't look at Crowley's mother. Despite Vic's attempts to put him at ease, he went away. He had dinner at Mackey's house and, according to Corrine, he looked very stricken by Terry's death.

Aceveda interrogates Shane.

When Captain David Aceveda started his own investigation on Crowley's murder, he and Dutch Wagenbach interrogated Shane. As they pressed on him, they started realizing he was lying. He was starting to break until Vic came in and told Aceveda to stay away from his men. Vic then reported this to Ben Gilroy, with Ben forcing Aceveda to drop his investigation due to lack of evidence and witnesses.

When the Strike Team busted basketball player Derrick Tripp, Ronnie, Lem, and Shane were in charge of keeping him under custody. They placed bets on the game knowing that Tripp's team would lose without him. However, Shane and Derrick started butting heads and eventually got in a fight until Lem and Ronnie separated them. When Vic came in and blasted him for it, Shane reminded him what they had done to Terry. Again, Mackey dismissed his comments and ordered him not to bring the subject again.

Some days later, Vic and Ronnie broke in the house of a member of the Armenian Mafia to put a wiretap while Lem and Shane waited in the car. Shane explained to Lem that they wanted to hear details about a drug deal with the intention of taking some of it, give it to Rondell Robinson and earn some money for their "retirement fund". When Ronnie and Vic got out, they met with Shane and Lem. They then heard a conversation between the Armenians, but they couldn't understand it.

Vic and Shane then met Theo Chorlian, an Armenian high school student and they made him translate what the Armenians were talking. Theo told them they were talking about the details of a delivery. After they got the information they wanted, Shane got him out of the car and gave him some money to keep quiet. Back at the Barn, they paid Bingham, a driver, to make a false statement to justify a search warrant in the house. Shane was present during the raid when they arrested Margos Dezerian and two other associates. As they were cleaning up, Shane took two bricks of cocaine while the team delivered the rest to the Barn.

As he was driving, Shane hid the cocaine in the car and decided to stop by his girlfriend's house. Although Amy was mad at first for his tardiness, she gave in and they went in to have sex. When they finished, Shane walked out and realized someone had stolen the Lincoln Navigator where he had hidden the bricks of cocaine. He took Amy's car and drove with her around the block to see if they could find the car. When Amy spotted a Lincoln Navigator, Shane drew his gun and badge and made signs to one of the teenagers on it to pull over. As he dragged them out of the car, one of them told him it was his mother's car. Shane checked it and realized it was true.

The next morning, Shane went to Vic's house and confessed what had happened. Vic blasted him for his incompetence. They then met with the rest of the Strike Team to find a way to intercept the car. Vic and Shane met with an officer called Lester Hoffman, who gave them the name of Mark. Mark owned a "chop shop" and when Vic and Shane visited him, he told them a man called Ricardo had asked about a Lincoln Navigator. After getting his address, Vic and Shane broke in his house. As Vic beat him up, Ricardo confessed that a young accomplice of his called Deena had stolen a Lincoln Navigator. Shane and Vic then went around trying to find her but Julien Lowe got to her first and reported it to Aceveda. However, they found out the bricks of cocaine weren't in the car.

After Vic got some information from Danny, he and Shane then went to a pawn shop and interrogated Antoine. He told them that a guy called Freddie had taken the cocaine. Shane and the Strike Team broke into his house only to find him dead from an overdose. As Aceveda got in, they quickly cleaned the evidence and took the two bricks of cocaine. Some time later, Vic and Shane were called by Assistant Chief Ben Gilroy to investigate a mass killing at a gunshop in the Northwest Precinct. Gilroy introduced them to Detective Carlos Zamora, so they could work together. As Vic and Shane walked out, they interrogated several gang members for information. One of them, Lucas, told them about a black man called Wet Willie who was bragging since being paroled. Vic and Shane went to his house and waited for him outside. As they waited, Shane found a book called "Facing Autism" on the car and asked Vic about it. Vic told him it belonged to Corrine because a kid in Matthew's class had been diagnosed. Shane started making offhand comments about autism comparing it to mental disability, which made Vic uncomfortable. Vic told Shane to stay shut and he did.

When Wet Willie arrived, Vic went to interrogate him while Shane pulled his friend, Trevor, aside to hold him. As he was checking him, Trevor insulted him and Shane kicked him in the groin and threw him in the ground. He started pissing on him right when Vic was returning. As the neighbors heard the screams, Vic pulled Shane aside and left. On their way, Vic hit Shane on the head and blasted him for his behavior. They then met with Carlos Zamora, who told them they had found Jaime, the janitor at the gun club. The three went to interrogate him and he told them that the killer was a white man, and not a gang member like they suspected.

When the killer shot more Latinos at a market, Vic told Shane to check the plates of all nearby cars to see which one was unaccounted for. When Shane complained for having to do it, Vic told him it was important and he didn't want to listen to him. Shane found the car that belonged to the killer and they saw bullets in the backseat. After informing Gilroy, Vic and Shane checked the store again and noticed a pool of blood that didn't belong to any of the victims. When they checked the back alley, they noticed it had been cleaned recently.

Also, after Officer Julien Lowe testified about the cocaine theft to IAD, Gilroy told Vic that they'll have to give them Shane since he was the one who lost the truck with the drugs in the first place. After solving the case about the Latino killer, Mackey went back to the clubhouse where Shane was and told him the book about autism was his, because Matthew had been diagnosed. Shane apologized but Mackey told him he wouldn't give up with Matthew and he wouldn't give up with him. When the IAD investigation was leaked to the press, Gilroy ordered Captain Aceveda to pair the members of the Strike Team with the other detectives until everything settled. When Shane found Julien in a hallway, they scuffled until Vic and Danny separated them. Vic then told Shane to stay calm and assured him that he would work things out.

Shane was assigned to work with Detective Dutch Wagenbach, who wasn't very happy with the pairing. As Dutch told him he had some paperwork to fill out, Shane suggested they hit a crack house he knew of. At this moment, Kim Kelner arrived looking for Detective Tom Gannon. They told her that Gannon had retired a year ago. She told them that Gannon was working the case of the murder of her husband, Kyle Kelner. Shane offered her a seat and Dutch went to look for her file. Shane started flirting with Kim, asking her about the case. Dutch then arrived and told her that they would have to start from scratch so they started asking her the details of the investigation.

At one point, Shane told Dutch that Kim was "ripe" for sex and that he could take advantage of her grief to get her to bed. Dutch was appalled at his attitude. As they brought back some of the witnesses, Dutch interrogated Kyle's business partner, Ari, while Shane interrogated Lauren, Kyle's secretary. As Lauren told Shane how great Kyle was as a boss, Shane started flirting with her also. They continued investigating and Dutch decided to bring Ari back. As he confronted him with conflicting alibis, Shane grabbed him by the neck and made him confess. As they walked out of the interrogation room, Shane celebrated how well they had worked together.

Later that night, Vic told Shane that things had been solved, after Julien recanted his testimony, and they hugged and celebrated. After that, Shane asked for three days off. According to Corrine, he had asked the days free to go to Las Vegas.

The pilot episode closes with Vic murdering Terry Crowley during a drug raid for being a federal informant. Vic is quickly cleared by the department because they are unaware of Terry's status as a federal informant and because of Vic's friendship with Assistant Chief Ben Gilroy. Enraged that Mackey got away with killing a cop in cold blood, Aceveda becomes determined to bring him down.

The Strike Team steals some drugs from a bust in order to sell on the street, but are seen by Officer Julian Lowe. Furthermore, the truck with the drugs is stolen from Shane when he stops at a girlfriend's house. When Aceveda learns of the skim from Lowe he becomes determined to recover the drugs and bring down the strike team. Eventually the team manage to recover the drugs and Vic blackmails Julien into recanting his statement.

The lost drugs are the latest incident in Shane's spiral out of control and Vic is advised to let him take the fall if anything goes wrong. However when Mackey's son is diagnosed with autism, Mackey realizes that both his son and his teammate need help and decides to work with them instead of sacrificing them. Vic then tries to enroll his son in a special school but they hear of the skimmed drug allegations and decide not to accept him. Vic manages to convince the admissions officer to change her mind by recovering a stolen ring for her.

The Strike Team's illegal activities generally consisted of protecting drug dealer Rondell Robison, in exchange for reduced violence and a cut of the profits. By allowing Rondell to maintain a monopoly over the farmington drug trade, Vic was able to line his pocket while making himself look good to the department by keeping gang violence down. The drugs that Vic skims off busts generally goes to Rondell to sell. However Rondell becomes incredibly unreliable. He is unable to come up with money to pay the supplier, threatens Officer Sofer, starts a turf war with the Nation of Islam and brags that he has police protection. Mackey eventually grows tired of Rondell and allows his subordinate Theadore Osmond (T.O.) to replace him.

At the end of the series, Vic and Shane discover that Ben Gilroy has begun a real-estate scam by manipulating police resources, resulting in the brutal murders of two women which itself leads to people firing at police, using fake 911 calls. Ben threatens Vic's family, effectively ending their friendship, and Vic forms an alliance with Aceveda. Eventually, Vic and Shane bring in both the shooters and Ben, earning the respect of Aceveda who drops a bogus gun warrant that Gilroy had manufactured.

Season Two

In Season Two, Lanie Kellis pokes around the Strike Team's activities as brutal crime lord Armadillo Quintero is trying to set up in Farmington.

The team is horrified to learn that Shane has invested all the Strike Teams illegal savings with T.O. and is now heavily involved in drug running. Furthermore the money is lost when a drug shipment of T.O.'s is poisoned by a supplier. Shane and the team go to Mexico to extort their saving from the supplier (who is Armadillo's brother) and then kidnap him and bring him to the U.S. so that he can be arrested. Upon returning home, Vic tells the team that they are no longer allowed to handle the money. As the pressure of his missing family and Armadillo's antics pile on, Vic lashes out at the team and Shane in particular which causes a rift to form.

Armadillo manages to consolidate the Mexican gangs in Farmington by burning any opposition alive. The gangs, which had previously been at each other's throats, unite to take control of the drug game. Armadillo furthers his sadistic reputation by raping the girlfriend of a rival gangster and then tattooing her with a dove sign. He also rapes a 9-year old girl who was a witness to one of his crimes and tattoos her as well. Vic warns Armadillo to leave Farmington, and Armadillo responds by burning T.O. alive. Vic manages to track down his family and tries to reason with them, but a private investigator they hired assaults Vic and they escape. Vic then gets the call about T.O. and frustrated by the recent events, he goes to Armadillo and burns his face on a stove.

Vic reconciles with Corrine and promises to move out of the house if she returns. He also makes amends with Shane.

Armadillo returns with a vengeance and continues to expand his drug-empire and as revenge for his earlier burning, Armadillo burns Ronnie's face on a stove. After realizing that the team are planning to kill him, Armadillo surrenders to the police and blackmails the team into making Ronnie recant his assault charge. Shane and Lem then give a prisoner a shiv which he uses to murder Armadillo.

The season concludes with the team exiling to Mexico a now-under house arrest Gilroy to ensure he does not testify against them and robbing the Armenian mob of their Money Train.

Season Three

Shane's break with Vic

The season mainly revolves around the aftermath of the Money Train Heist and its effects on the Strike Team, as the Armenian mob and also David Aceveda begins to suspect the Strike Team. In order to save the team, Lem burns a majority of the money. Shane was furious with Lem, and bad-mouthed him and caused him to leave the team. Vic became furious with Shane which created more tension and caused Shane to also leave the Strike Team, dissolving it. Shane left the "Barn".  The Armenian mob sends Margos Dezerian to wipe out the Strike Team. Dezerian leaves a trail of murders, resulting in his own execution at the hands of Mackey.

Season Four

Antwon Mitchell

Following the breakup of the Strike Team, Shane was reassigned out of the Barn to the Vice Division and was assigned a new partner, former GI Armando "Army" Renta. He began resuming his previous corrupt activities and began to train Army to engage in similar practices. Shane offered his services to rising drug lord Antwon Mitchell, who accepted in order to protect his shipments.

The arrival of new Farmington Captain Monica Rawling and the revival of the Strike Team caused plans to go awry. Shane attempted to protect his interest in Mitchell's business and rejoined the Team to allow him to stay informed about the seizures. However, Shane's growing arrogance and his failure to report an upcoming raid led to a large loss of drugs, money, and One-Niner gang members.

An enraged Mitchell decided to scrap his deal. Shane and Army were lured to a meeting, severely beaten by Antwon's men, and then were forced to watch as an informant, an 11-year-old girl named Angie Stubbs, was murdered in front of them using their own weapons. With Angie's body now as a trump card, Shane and Army were released, now with their careers and their freedom at the mercy of Antwon.

Shane worked out of fear for several weeks, but was given an opportunity to save himself when Antwon ordered him to murder Vic Mackey, offering him Angie's body in exchange. Fortunately, the conversation was recorded by Ronnie and Lem. Vic angrily confronted Shane in an alley, threatening to kill him. After Shane explained the situation, Vic lowered his weapon and offered his life up to Shane, who refused to take it, saying

"No... No. I would never choose him over you. You're my friend."

Shane pleaded for Vic's help, which he then received.

Vic, Ronnie, and a reluctant Lem decided to conduct a search to retrieve Angie's body and destroy Mitchell's leverage. However, as two missing cops from the Barn were found tortured and stabbed to death, Mitchell was immediately suspected. Vic and Shane arrested Mitchell, but struck a deal to watch out for one another and Vic offered to provide Mitchell with another drug supply in a drug crew called the Splash Posse. Capt. Rawlings, however, pushed Mitchell much harder than Vic would have expected and soon Antwon leaked orders through his lawyer to let Angie's body surface. In a final effort to seal Army and the Strike Team off from scrutiny, Shane decided to murder Antwon and avenge Angie, thus proving himself to Lem once more; the two reconciled before Shane prepared to confront Antwon. As he left the other Strike Team members, Shane repeated Vic's words before single-handedly murdering Armenian Mafia boss Margos Dezerian,

"This one's on me."

Shane calmly walked into the interrogation room with Antwon, lewdly taunting the drug lord about his son, an imprisoned homosexual, saying,

"It's too bad you're nothing but a n-----, with a f----- n----- son!"

Antwon, although enraged, quickly surmised what Shane was planning and calmly refused to take the bait, forcing a shocked Shane to decide whether or not to kill him anyway. However, seconds before Shane could pull the trigger, Vic interrupted him with a better plan.

Vic revealed the assassination plot to Captain Rawling, along with video footage of Antwon's offer to Shane of "a body for a body." Captain Rawling, however, was suspicious and ordered Shane to take a polygraph. Although he managed to fake his way through, he remained under scrutiny for the duration of her time as Captain. Mitchell was immediately imprisoned for the murder of Angie and later charged with murdering the two police officers. As a result, Shane was off the hook. He would mend the bridges he burned during the Money Train affair and all seemed well once again.

Season Five

Internal affairs

As the department began its investigation of the Strike Team, Shane's past was investigated by Lt. Jon Kavanaugh. It was revealed that while Shane and Mara were making their payments on their home legitimately, they were essentially living off of Shane's share of the Money Train. Also Antwon Mitchell disclosed his dealings with Shane to Kavanaugh.

Kavanaugh's case against the Strike Team was almost destroyed when Lem agreed to a plea deal. However, Kavanaugh's investigation into Lompoc Prison, resulted in an assurance that Lem would be killed in prison. Afraid for his life, Vic convinced Lem to go on the run.

Lem's murder

Tensions began to rise among the Strike Team the longer Lem remained on the run. As details of their past began to come to light, namely the Money Train heist, it began to seem that Lem had made a deal to give up the team in order to ensure his freedom. Nonetheless, Shane still believed Lem was loyal, even taking some money out of his house payments in order to provide him with a stipend while he was in hiding.

However, when it came time to meet with Lem, the team discovered that they were being trailed in an attempt to arrest them for harboring a fugitive. Shane, the only member of the Strike Team not being trailed, was able to meet with Lem. After some discussion, it was revealed that Lem had no intention of running to Mexico and planned to turn himself in. Fearing that Lem would testify against the team, Shane used a grenade—taken from an earlier raid on the Salvadorans—to murder his team member and friend. Despite the knowledge that he was acting for the good of the team, Shane was grief-stricken and apologized profusely to Lem as he died. He later met the rest of the team, using the excuse that he too had been tailed.

After seeing Lem's corpse in the final moments of Season 5, Vic quietly snarled,

"We're gonna find out who did this, and we're gonna kill 'em."

The vicious bite in Vic's words was enough to make Shane pause momentarily.

Season Six

Aftermath of Lem's murder

The remaining Strike Team members attend Lem's funeral where they discuss current leads about Guardo. Shane later meets Ronnie and Vic at Lem's grave site, where they give Lem an improvised "21 gun salute." The next day, however, Shane discovers, along with Vic and Ronnie, that Lem had no intention of "ratting out" the Strike Team. As a result, Shane's justification for Lem's murder was suddenly stripped away.

Shane spends a moment, crying to himself over the fact that he murdered Lem with no justification and appears to be on the verge of committing suicide when he is interrupted by Danny, who has arrived to the Barn to take care of some paperwork and to show off her son. Shane briefly holds the child before reuniting with the team. Shane is completely out of it during a hostage situation and destroys the strategy for dealing with the situation when he abruptly offers himself as a hostage. Vic later chides him after dealing with a gunshot sustained in the botched rescue, telling Shane to be more careful, as he does not want to lose another friend. Stressed out and racked by guilt, Shane afterwards went to have sex with the teenaged black hooker he had met earlier in the day.

When a warrant was issued for Vic's arrest, Shane and Ronnie returned to the Barn on Vic's recommendation in order to not only keep themselves clear of suspicion, but also to gather information on the investigation into the charges. Shane was interviewed by Kavanaugh and Dutch and argued that it was too convenient for Kavanaugh to have discovered the amount of evidence on Vic in a few days considering that his previous investigation of six months had failed to materialize anything. Though the argument was lost on Kavanaugh, it prompted Dutch to begin questioning the validity of Kavanaugh's investigation and corroborating evidence.

Shane briefly thought of possibly creating a story of a grenade being held by Lem accidentally exploding, but it was quickly shot down by Ronnie as being "some bullshit story." Fortunately, the charges were dropped, and Shane, wishing the affair be put behind them, pleaded for Vic to stop his pursuit of Guardo Lima, the Salvadoran drug lord believed to be responsible for Lem's murder. His pleas were ignored and Vic kidnapped, tortured, and brutally murdered Guardo in front of him.

Shane became emotionally unstable, especially when children were involved, but children seemed to be his attempt at redemption. Whether putting off his suicide when being shown Danny's baby, or allowing himself to be doused with gasoline in order to rescue a child in danger from a junkie, or even begging for Guardo's life based on the knowledge that Guardo and his girlfriend would be having a child soon, Shane's guilt and shame showed through most sharply in these circumstances.

Caught Red-Handed

After learning that Guardo could not have had any involvement in Lem's murder, and clearing Antwon of the same charge, Vic read a dossier on Lem's murder put together by Kavanaugh, revealing that, contrary to his earlier claims, Shane was not followed the night Lem died—giving Vic ample evidence, motive, and a time frame to accuse Shane of the killing. Vic called Shane out at the same location where Lem had been blown apart with the grenade. Shane confessed to his crime, attempting to rationalize it while also speaking of his shame and remorse.

Vic was outraged and screamed,

"I had the chance to pull the trigger on you once before; I didn't do it, and Lem lost his life because of it!"

He warned Shane that if he ever saw him again, he would kill him. Shane drove off in a huff, calling Vic a hypocrite.

In The Wind

Believing that Vic might be out to murder him, Shane takes several measures to ensure his survival, beginning with a detailed description of the past crimes of the Strike Team, including names and photos, and threatened to make it public if Vic acted against him.

In addition, Shane also informed Ronnie Gardocki about Vic's murder of Terry Crowley, attempting to drive a wedge between the two and possibly hoping to gain an ally. The news instead has the opposite effect, as Ronnie approached Vic, reproached him for not trusting his loyalty, and even tells Vic that he would have done a better job of keeping the murder secret than Shane ever could have. He then asked Vic how they will be able to put their problems with Shane behind them forever.

Armenian Rhapsody

Attempting to find a new source of income, Shane quickly took to moonlighting as an enforcer for Diro Kesakhian, the young Godmother of an Armenian Mafia family. After he revealed the names of a three African-Americans who had been robbing the Kesakhian Family's stable of Russian hookers, Diro arranged for the trio to be castrated as a result.

After learning of this, Vic spoke with Diro, disclosing the events with Antwon Mitchell in an attempt to drive a wedge into her relationship with Shane. Panicking when Diro attempted to end their arrangement, Shane claimed that Vic didn't trust him because he had not participated in the Money Train heist (conveniently concealing his own involvement). Diro bristled, saying that the theft cost her beloved father 6 months of profit. She took Shane back into the fold, but the news resulted in her decision to put out contracts on Vic, Ronnie, and their families, something Shane had neither wanted nor expected.

Shane responded by switching his loyalty to Diro's rival, Ellis Rezian, but not before an Armenian enforcer called at the home of Corrine Mackey, having been ordered to murder Vic's ex-wife and children. Shane, however, had already learned from Rezian how Diro would proceed. Shane proceeded to kidnap Vic's family and locked them in a cargo container in East Los Angeles. He then ambushed the Armenian hitman Ari Zadofian in the Mackey household and in a struggle non-fatally shot him in the stomach.

However, Ellis Rezian, who is now Shane's new boss, vowed to hold the Money Train Robbery over his head. He declared that, if Shane failed to follow his orders in any way or if he received any trouble from the police, he would murder Vic, Ronnie, and their families. Rezian coldly added that he would save Shane, Mara and their children for last.

Soon afterwards, Shane convinced Diro to flee back to Germany, but not before she euthanized her dying father. As she left her father's bedside, Diro told Shane,

"Your sentiment will destroy you."

Season Seven

Betrayal

Shane eventually returned to the Barn and began solving crimes like he used to. However, while he was with Rezian during a drug meeting, he was ambushed by Pezuela's hitmen (who were sent by Vic to kill everybody at the meeting, including Shane), who ruthlessly gunned down Rezian and three of his lieutenants. Shane vowed revenge and hired a convict (who had been assaulted by Ronnie) to kill Ronnie, while Shane waited inside Vic's house to murder him. After the failed attempt on Ronnie's life Vic was notified as to what happened and spared his own life by never entering his house.

On the run

After Shane's hitman revealed the plot to kill Ronnie to Dutch and Claudette, he, Mara and Jackson began to run and became fugitives in the state. They were nearly killed twice (once by Vic, another by two of Vic's hitmen) and were desperately in need of money.

Shane tried getting money for the family by robbing a few poker buddies, but they turned on him and got into a fight with Shane. After Mara inadvertently killed a woman (and wound up breaking her collar bone during the fight) and after learning that Vic struck an immunity deal with ICE in exchange for testifying about all of the crimes that the team had committed (Vic also exposed Shane as Lem's killer, and incriminated Ronnie for other crimes), Shane realized that there was nothing left they could do, since Mara would be thrown in jail for murder and Jackson would get sent to a foster home. During a final attempt to blackmail his former best friend, Shane learned of Vic's deal and that Vic had even gone so far as to use Shane's little black book to help him remember all of the crimes that he had committed. The two men taunted each other about their families before Vic hung up on Shane for a final time.

Death

Shane and his family returned to their home after running for so long and Shane bought flowers, a toy car, and pens from a gas station. He then called a "family meeting" and poisoned Mara and Jackson. After they died, Shane put the flowers in Mara's hands and the toy car in Jackson's, making their deaths look peaceful. Shane then went into the bathroom and started writing a suicide note, which was cut off when the cops entered his house. Shane then abruptly put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger, killing himself. Having been too late to bring them in alive, Danny, Tina, Julien, Claudette, and Dutch stand shocked and saddened silently over the bodies of the Vendrell family.

Aftermath

Although no one at the Barn was fond of Shane anymore, both Ronnie and Vic were shocked at the news of his death, especially after learning that Shane had also killed his own family. Ronnie, in particular, was not only relieved as Shane will now pose no threat to them but also because their mission of avenging Lem is complete, not knowing that what was about to happen next was his arrest after Vic hung him out to dry for all the crimes that they had committed together. Vic was more sad as they were best friends and he himself believed he contributed to their deaths after informing Shane of his immunity deal. In the interrogation room, Claudette read to Vic the suicide note that Shane wrote and showed him photos of the Vendrell murder-suicide scene. Claudette says sarcastically that Vic must be very proud of himself and that this is what the "hero" left on the way out. Vic was at the brink of tears from looking at the photos until he realized what Claudette is doing and then ripped the camera in anger.

After selling out Ronnie to spend the rest of his days in prison as part of his deal with ICE (Immigrations and Customs Enforcement), Vic began his new work for them. At his bureau, he placed photos of his children and a photo of himself and Lem. Originally, all four members were in the photo. Vic cut out Ronnie because he could not forgive himself for betraying him and he cut out Shane as he could not forgive him for murdering Lem, betraying the Strike Team and killing himself and his family.

Lem's friendship with Vic was the only one left "untarnished" in his mind.

Personality

Shane has committed several acts of reckless behavior while part of the Strike Team, as well almost getting their operations blown on several occasions. He once threw down a suspect and urinated on him. He also accidentally had a truck full of cocaine stolen while he visited a nearby woman for sex, etc. Despite the fact that he is somewhat of a loose cannon, he is very intelligent and bailed Vic out of several tough situations throughout the Team's history. Until it was revealed that he had murdered Lem, Shane was Vic's best friend and had proven to be willing to put himself on the line for the Strike Team.

Shane has also behaved in a racist manner throughout the show as he has used derogatory comments like "n----," "darkie," "wetback," and "beaner" multiple times. Shane also drove away a potential protégé of Vic named Tavon Garris due to their personal differences. Furthermore, Shane displays racism towards African-Americans through his mobile ring tone Dixie, a blackface minstrel song and unofficial anthem of the Confederacy; he also named his son Jackson after Confederate Civil War General Stonewall Jackson. Shane has, however, had very friendly relationships with several minority officers, as well as a sexual relationship with a black teenaged girl.

In Season 4, Shane was partnered with "Army", a Mexican-American detective and veteran of the Iraq War. The two became close friends, with Army notably referring to their pairing as "the hick and the spic". Shane was also the main officer looking to seek a partnership with Antwon Mitchell, an African-American heroin czar. Overall, Shane is less hostile to black women than to black men. This is revealed by his friendship with female Detective Trish George, as well as his shock and outrage over the murder of a 14-year-old black girl at the hands of Antwon Mitchell.

Family

Prior to Season 3, Shane was typically loudmouthed, macho and promiscuous. In one instance he shamelessly tried to have sex with a murder victim's widow, who was seeking an emotional release for her grief. However, in Season 3, he began living with a woman named Mara, who quickly became pregnant with his child after they started seeing each other, and they were quickly married.

In one episode, Shane said to Vic, "She's the only girl I've met who's better than me, you know." The couple had a young son, Jackson, with another child on the way (mentioned in episode Post Partum). Despite Shane's marriage and children, he still finds other women, most recently a teenage prostitute (18 years of age) who was also romantically involved with a high-ranking member of the One-Niners gang.

Shane has been open with Mara about the situations he's been involved in. Mara has also directly participated in several of these situations. For example, she discovered the storage locker location and found a key to take some of the Money Train money which she gave to her mother. Unknown to her, that money contained marked bills that the FBI had placed to break up the Armenian Mafia. In another event, Detective Tavon Garris visited Shane's house to reduce tensions but ended up getting into a fight. Mara hit Tavon in the head with an iron, impairing his judgment and causing him to crash his van and sustain serious injuries. Shane and Mara reached out to Vic who worked with Lem to convince Tavon that he had almost killed a pregnant Mara; as a result, Tavon agreed not to report the fight to anyone.

Victims

• Two-Time - Killed in self-defense
• Dead-Eye - Shot to death
• Mike Holden - Killed in self-defense
• Detective Curtis Lemansky - Murdered in order to "protect" the Strike Team
• Mara Vendrell - Poisoned to spare her the pain from losing their family
• Jackson Vendrell - Poisoned in order to prevent him from entering a foster home
• Frances Abigeil - Killed by Shane, using painkillers
• Himself - Committed suicide after cruel taunts by Vic

Trivia

• The house that was used as Vendrell's home is on Scotland Street in Los Angeles.
• His badge number is 714, a probable reference to Dragnet.
• Shane appears to favor the Beretta 8000 9mm gun as his sidearm.
• One known alias of his is "Cletus Van Damme."
• He squints when he is lying (as observed by Dutch during the interrogation about their role in Terry Crowley's murder).
• Shane drove a 2003 Chevrolet Silverado until Season 5. Then he drove a Dodge Dakota, with license plate 2CON654.