Santa Rosa dinner party shooting leaves 1 dead

BY Henry K. Lee (KTVU) SANTA ROSA - Santa Rosa police say a man hoping to confront and possibly kill his estranged wife opened fire at their son's home and ended up killing a neighbor who happened to be over having dinner.

The suspect, Walter Ross, 65, traveled from his Colorado home and was armed with two guns and many explosives when he showed up at the front door of his son's home on Garfield Park Avenue in the city's Rincon Valley neighborhood about 8 p.m. Sunday, said Santa Rosa police Lt John Cregan.

Neighbors tell KTVU that the suspect, dressed all in black, fired two shots near the front door, then tried to force his way inside. Police say he then opened fire as 43-year-old dinner guest Timothy Gillaspie tried to stop him.

Gillaspie was hit numerous times and killed. Ross' son fled from his home while carrying his 4-year-old son. The father was hit twice in the legs, while the little boy suffered a grazing gunshot wound to the side of his head, Cregan said. 

Gillaspie's wife and two kids were also at the Ross' home but escaped. That family lives across the street from where the shooting occurred.

After the shooting, Ross shot himself in the head. He was listed in critical condition at a local hospital. 

Police said Ross had been estranged from his wife for about two years. Their divorce would have been finalized this month, and Ross had been "agitated" over alimony payments, Cregan said.