YUMA - A 73-year-old man's shooting rampage in towns near the Arizona border left six people dead Thursday, including the suspect and the attorney who represented his ex-wife in their divorce.
Police said Carey Hal Dyess also wounded one person in the shootings around Yuma, a city of about 200,000, before he was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound nearly six hours after the first shots were fired.
The lawyer, a University of Arizona graduate, was killed while packing up his office on his last day of work. He had been practicing law in Arizona since the mid-1970s.
"This is not a random act," Yuma Police Chief Jerry Geier said. "These victims were targeted."
Yuma County Sheriff Ralph Ogden said the first shooting was reported shortly after 5 a.m. in Wellton, about 25 miles east of Yuma. The woman was in critical condition at a Phoenix hospital.
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He said Dyess then fatally shot four people around town before driving to Yuma and killing prominent lawyer Jerrold Shelley at about 9:20 a.m. The bodies in Wellton were found between 8:20 and 9:45 a.m.
Police believe Dyess drove back toward Wellton, pulled over and fatally shot himself.
Shelley was killed in his downtown law office. Shelley represented Dyess' ex-wife in their 2006 divorce, which was Dyess' fifth.
Vida Florez, a Yuma attorney who knew Shelley, said she learned of the shooting after leaving court. She said she heard from a witness who spoke to the police about what happened inside the office.
"They said the shooter came in and told the secretary to 'Get out of here,' " Florez said. "She did, and he shot Jerry Shelley and he left."
Shelley also was one of the lawyers representing seven young men - three sets of brothers - who sued the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson after accusing a priest of repeatedly raping them when they were children.
A man and woman were found dead in a small farmhouse outside the nearby town of Wellton, said Yuma police Sgt. John Otero.
Court records show Dyess was involved in two civil court cases, one in Yuma and one in Wellton.
Court records show Dyess' four previous divorces were all in Washington state.
The divorce file showed that Theresa and Carey Dyess were married in Tombstone in May 2002 and the couple filed for divorce in 2006. Theresa Dyess alleged there had been domestic violence and she asked for and received an order of protection.
Carey Dyess later took out a protection order against Theresa Dyess, records showed.
The divorce was granted and the couple later agreed on a property split that gave Theresa Dyess the couple's home in Wellton once she bought out her former husband's share.
Yuma attorney Amanda Taylor described Shelley as a good man who was dedicated to his Mormon beliefs.
"You know, family law, that's some of the most dangerous law to practice because it's so emotional, but it's usually the younger ages when it's about custody issues."
She said Shelley was wrapping up a long career. "He was retiring. He literally was packing up his office today," Taylor said.
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