complied by Patrick H. Moore
Salisbury University on Maryland’s Eastern Shore is not the sort of place you connect with murder-suicides. Everything about the place seems moderate and it has been years since the reality of homicide reared its ugly head on campus. Tuition is reasonable (it is part of the University of Maryland), and it’s a two-hour drive from the mean and violent streets of Baltimore. Therefore, a triple shooting near the campus on Tuesday night that left two people dead and one student injured has the place in an uproar. Although investigators are still trying to figure out what led to the extreme violence, the preliminary facts — to the extent that they are known — are as follows:
20-year-old Salisbury University Nursing Major Kristen Loetz had recently ended a relationship with 21-year-old Ryan Shallue, who does not attend the university. On Tuesday night, Shallue — who was apparently upset because Loetz had not only broken up with him but was apparently refusing to answer his phone calls — arrived uninvited at Loetz’s small off-campus home on Onley Road, about one-quarter mile east of the university.
According to Salibury police, an argument broke out between Loetz and Shallue. 19-year-old Charles Abbott — also at the house — then tried to intervene. In retrospect, this appears to have been a mistake. In any event, the police say that Shallue then took out a semi-automatic handgun and shot Loetz and wannabe peacemaker Abbott before fatally shooting himself.
Shallue was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Abbott was taken to Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury, where he was later pronounced dead. Loetz was also taken to Peninsula Regional but was later flown to Maryland Shock Trauma, where she remains in critical but stable condition.
The Salisbury campus is left reeling.
“(Shallue) was upset that the ex-girlfriend had not been taking his phone calls and wanted to break up with him,” said Janet Dudley-Eshbach, Salisbury University President. “We know that violence in general and relationship violence is a problem in our society, but it’s never hit home like it has this time.”
“Our prayers and condolences go out to the families and friends of those impacted by last evening’s tragic off-campus shooting,” she said in a Wednesday letter to students.
According to Dudley- Eshbach, Loetz is an honors nursing major who is active in student life.
“It was kind of awful to hear that it was something about a relationship that caused it,” said Kylee Failor, a Salisbury University student.
Family and friends of Abbott the Peacemaker, known to friends as “C.J.”, are in a state of shock.
“It’s a shock because he was so happy. We don’t understand what happened,” said Abbott’s friend, Parrish Haile.
The police investigators are trying to ascertain what led the 21-year-old to resort to such extreme and unthinkable violence.
The university will host a candlelight vigil Wednesday night at 7 p.m. to pray for the victims.
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Although it’s less frequent in middle-class areas than in our drug-and-poverty-ravaged urban communities, “extreme and unthinkable violence”, whether rendered by guns or through other means, is an everyday occurrence all across America. It is at this point an integral part of our collective psyche and each time we hear about yet another senseless killing(s), the point is once again hammered home.