Tragedy

A Grand Junction man and woman are dead, and another woman remained in the hospital late Saturday after a man shot them outside a north Grand Junction home Saturday morning. The suspected gunman also was in the hospital Saturday night after concluding a police chase by shooting himself in the head.

Grand Junction dentist Terry Fine, 61, and retired School District 51 teacher Flo Gallagher, 60, died from injuries they sustained after being shot in the Fines’ driveway at 2631 Chestnut Drive, according to the Grand Junction Police Department.

Terry Fine and his wife, Linda, were being picked up by Flo and Mike Gallagher to go on vacation together when they were approached by a man who shot them in the driveway at 8:30 a.m., police said.

There are so many things that are sad about this story. Terry was my parents dentist, I wanted to go see him, but was told he was retiring. Imagine, planning the rest of your life after years of working, and having it cut short just like that. Worse yet, yesterday was a beautiful Saturday morning, I was walking with Callie over to my parents house really enjoying the morning. Imagine, you wake up, getting ready for a vacation (they were apparently going to Las Vegas for the weekend), looking forward to it, walking out in your driveway and getting cut down. A jogger and good Samaritan were also shot. Imagine going along for your morning jog, planning the day ahead and getting shot because you happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The good Samaritan is Harry Griff, an attorney in town, he was working on his swamp cooler. Imagine just living your life, and in a second it changes. I lived in this neighborhood for a time when I came back from New Mexico. It is quiet and neighborly. Everyone knows everyone and gets along. We haven't heard anything about the shooter, but my best guess, is it was random. That makes it an enormous tragedy.