divorce gone bad, 5 dead, 1 wounded in Yuma. AZ.

[philw]

5 dead, 1 wounded in Yuma, Ariz., 'divorce gone bad'

By Michael Winter, USA TODAY
Five people were shot dead and one was wounded this morning in and around Yuma, Ariz. Police say the shootings are connected.

Update at 7:10 p.m. ET: Slain attorney Jerrold Shelley represented the ex-wife of gunman Carey Hal Dyess in their divorce case, the Associated Press reports.

Dyess' former wife is believed to be among the four people he killed, but their identities have not yet been released.

AP says court records show Dyess was involved in two civil court cases, one in Yuma and one in nearby Wellton. A judge issued a 2006 protective order against Dyess in one case, which a court clerk said stemmed from Dyess' wife divorcing him.

AP notes that Shelley was one of the lawyers representing seven young men -- three sets of brothers -- who sued the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson after accusing a priest of repeatedly raping them when they were children.

Update at 5:52 p.m. ET: As more details emerge from authorities, the Yuma Sun reports that the shootings were the result of "a divorce gone bad" and has revised the shooting sequence.

The first shooting occurred around 5 a.m. PT (8 a.m. ET) in Wellton, east of Yuma. The still-unidentified victim was a friend of the gunman's ex-wife. She was shot four times in the face but "was alert and breathing" when police arrived, Wellton Police Cpl. David Rodriguez told the Sun. She was flown to a Phoenix-area hospital; her condition is not known.

The next shooting was reported around 9 a.m. local time not far away in Wellton, where sheriff's deputies and police found the body of a woman in the front yard, dead of an apparent gunshot. She has not been identified.

About 15 minutes later, attorney Jerrold Shelley was slain in his downtown Yuma law office. Afterward, two more people were shot dead before 73-year-old Carey Hal Dyess killed himself in the desert in Blaisdell.

Update at 5:07 p.m. ET: USA TODAY's Donna Leinwand Leger corrects the sequence of the shootings. The gunman, identified as Carey Hal Dyess, 73, first shot and killed attorney Jerrold Shelley at his downtown Yuma law office around 9:15 a.m. PT (12:15 p.m. ET), says Yuma community relations director Greg Hyland. Minutes later, the Yuma Sheriff's Office reported a second shooting believed to be connected to Shelley's killing.

The gunman was identified by 10 a.m., Hyland said.

"We knew what the suspect looked like. They knew what he was driving -- a PT Cruiser," he said. Police were on the lookout for "an old white guy wearing a green shirt."

About 90 minutes later, Dyess was found dead in a dry creek in Blaisdell, a desert area 10 miles east of downtown Yuma and about a mile from the nearest subdivision, Hyland said.

Update at 4:52 p.m. ET: The gunman killed himself in a car found in the desert about 13 miles northeast of Yuma, the Associated Press says.



Investigators check a vehicle that may belong to a man suspected of shooting five people today in Yuma, Ariz., and the Wellton-Mohawk Valley. The gunman, identified as Carey Hal Dyess, 73, killed himself in the vehicle found in the desert about 10 miles northeast of Yuma.
Update at 4:31 p.m. ET: The first victim was a woman whose body was found in a yard at Avenue 35 1/2E and Old Highway 80, according to the Yuma County Sheriff's Office. The woman appeared to have died from a gunshot, according to police radio reports at the time, the Yuma Sun says.
Next came the shooting in the 300 block of 2nd Avenue in Yuma that killed attorney Jerrold Shelley. That was followed by two shootings in the Wellton area, followed by the suicide of the suspected gunman, Carey Hal Dyess.

The Sun said it has not confirmed the location of the sixth shooting.

Update at 4:19 p.m. ET: Authorities have identified the gunman as Carey Hal Dyess, 73, of Yuma, KYMA-TV reports.

Yuma County sheriff's deputies found his body around 11:30 a.m. PT (2:30 p.m. ET) in the area of state Highway 95 and Blaisdell. He died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot.

The identities of the other victims have not been released.



Yuma County detectives examine the body of a murder victim at a residence east of Wellton, Ariz., today.
By Craig Fry, The Yuma Sun, via AP
Update at 3:56 p.m. ET: Police have not said whether the suspected gunman has been captured or is dead, but the Yuma Sun cites police radio traffic that said the unidentified suspect had killed himself.
Update at 3:43 p.m. ET: Jerrold Shelley was shot and killed at his general-practice firm on Second Avenue in downtown Yuma, USA TODAY's Donna Leinwand Leger reports.

"Jerry's a pillar of the community. We are shocked and saddened by the loss. He's a very, very nice person," said Bridget Marquez, an office manager at the Fila Smith Law Firm, a law office in a building that shares a parking lot with Shelley's office.

Police flooded the parking lot and strung police tape to block both buildings, she said.

"Everyone thinks it's us because of the police tape, but we're all fine. We heard nothing until the police came," Marquez said.

Shelley was "very involved in the community" and served on several boards, Marquez said. "He was a good neighbor and colleague."

Shelley also practiced family law.

Update at 3:27 p.m. ET: The Yuma Daily Sun reports lawyers as saying colleague Jerrold Shelley was killed, according to KOLD-TV, citing the newspaper's website, which appears to be unavailable. The paper cites police radio chatter indicating three other shooting deaths and another body with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Update at 3:17 p.m. ET: KSWT-TV reports that police have surrounded the Smith Fila Law Firm, where a shooting was reported around 9:20 this morning PT (12:20 p.m. ET).

One person is reported in critical condition at a hospital.

Update at 3:07 p.m. ET: KYMA-TV reports the killings occurred in "a string of shootings," one in downtown Yuma and the other four in Yuma County. One person was wounded. Police say the shootings are related.

The lockdowns of schools and downtown buildings have been lifted.

Original post: At least five people have been shot to death in Yuma, Ariz., and area schools have been locked down, the Associated Press reports.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2011/06/5-shot-dead-in-yuma-ariz-schools-locked-down/1?csp=hf

[kmitch200]

Geez, my divorces were bad but nothing I would shoot someone over, especially myself.
I wonder if this guy had something terminal, (besides the self inflicted GSW), and decided to F*** everyone.

What a POS.

[Pathfinder]

A lot of ink that tells us damn little, other than the 73-year old's name and that he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the desert.

Sad situation, but look for this to be used against ALL guys getting a divorce even more than it already is. Judges will issue restraining orders and gun confiscation orders with the divorce filings, and point to this case.