ROCKVILLE, Md. (WUSA) -- Shots fired and two dead inside a continuing care facility.
Police say an elderly Rockville accountant shot his ailing wife to death Monday and then killed himself at what used to be the National Lutheran Home on Veirs Drive. It's now called The Village at Rockville.
Shaken residents tried to deal with the news that 80-year-old Albert Ballard had shot his wife Sandra, 74, to death in a patient room -- and then turned the gun on himself.
A nurse heard the shots. But when workers got into the room, both the Ballards were dead.
Families of other residents at the Village of Rockville were turned away while police tried to sort it out.
Managers at the home say Sandra Ballard had been here for a short time. She was in sub-acute care, which is just one step down from hospitalization. They say privacy laws prevent them from publicly releasing her medical condition.
Researchers suggest caregivers, most often males, kill their ailing spouses as often as 500 times a year. The men often think they're acting with compassion, according to experts, but the wives often are unaware and unwilling.
Police found a gun in the room and believe it was the weapon Albert Ballard used to kill himself and his wife.
The Ballards lived on Parkvale Road in Rockville. On-line directories say Albert Ballard ran a accounting business out of his home.
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