A 43-year-old man shot and killed his girlfriend, chased her sister and then turned the gun on himself Monday morning in Alleghany County, authorities said.
The violence happened in the man's house, which is near Covington on Brookhaven Drive, a quiet street of single-family ranch-style houses, Alleghany County Sheriff Kevin Hall said.
The sheriff did not release the name of the victim, who is survived by three children, per her family's request. She had spent months living in the Safehome Systems shelter for domestic violence victims in Covington.
The gunman was Terry Wayne Wright, Hall said. The victim's sister called deputies to his house about 11:45 a.m. Monday, telling them her sister had been shot there.
When deputies arrived, they yelled but got no response from the house, Hall said. A deputy kicked in a door expecting to find a victim in need of medical care but instead found Wright lying in the living room and the victim in the hallway.
"We wanted to save a life if possible," Hall said. "We didn't know if he [Wright] was outside the house or inside."
The victim's sister told deputies that she was inside the house when Wright took out a gun. She said she hid until she heard a gunshot. She ran out of the house, with Wright chasing her. Wright returned to his house and shot himself.
This was the first homicide in Alleghany County since 2004, when a man was found shot in the head in his Hallies Road house. His wife, Janet Gale Sorrells, was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to serve 12 1/2 years of a 15-year sentence.
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