A Westminster man shot his wife and then apparently shot and killed himself at his home Monday night, Maryland State Police said yesterday.
Jenny Amass, 43, called 911 from her home in the 2600 block of Old Washington Road about 9:30 p.m. Monday, state police said.
Police said they forced their way into the couple's locked home and found Amass and her husband, John Amass, 38, lying next to each other on the couple's bedroom floor.
John Amass was pronounced dead at the scene. Jenny Amass was flown to Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where she is in critical condition. No details were given on Jenny Amass' injuries.
No one else was in the house at the time of the shooting, said Lt. Terry L. Katz, of the state police. The couple had no record of domestic trouble, he said.
No motive is known, police said, and no one witnessed the incident. Police removed two rifles and two semiautomatic handguns from the home. The guns were registered to Jenny Amass under her maiden name, Dull.
One neighbor described John Amass as a quiet man who hired himself out as a plumber, sometimes working for neighbors.
The stretch of road near where Amass and his wife lived is dotted with older, well-kept ranchers separated by produce fields.
Police said they expect to receive an autopsy report this week that will verify whether John Amass' injuries were self-inflicted, as they suspect. If so, no charges will be filed, police said. The last homicide in Westminster was in April 1999, when a disabled man was killed with a shotgun during an argument.
