ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, July 27, 1996 TAG: 9607300045
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-2 EDITION: METRO FATALITY
DATELINE: WARSAW
SOURCE: Associated Press
A 19-year-old honor student at Rappahannock Community College was shot to death by her boyfriend, who then killed himself, police said.
Ruth Anne Gripshover of Warsaw and James Darren Rock, 25, of Farnham were arguing on a rural road near Warsaw on Wednesday when Rock pulled out a Gene Sydnor said.
Rock then shot himself in the head, Sydnor said.
Gripshover died at the scene. Rock was taken to Riverside Tappahannock Community Hospital and died at 11:04 p.m. without regaining consciousness.
Family members said that the two had dated on and off for more than two years but that they had broken up intermittently because of Rock's jealousies.
``He seemed to be pretty possessive, especially toward the end,'' said Robert Gripshover, 29, a nephew of the slaying victim.
Carol Schooley, Gripshover's mother, said Rock had been at her house earlier in the evening and had been distraught with jealousy.
Sydnor said a deputy less than a quarter-mile from the crime scene on Virginia 624 responded to a call. from youths who had seen the couple ``tussling.''
When the deputy arrived, apparently moments after the shootings, the two were lying alongside Rock's truck.
LENGTH: Short : 36 linesby CNB