THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 3, 1996 TAG: 9610030349
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A13 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON FRANK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: 66 lines
Timothy L. Gregory foretold the final, violent moments of his life dozens of times during the past four years, continually promising that he would seek revenge for perceived injustices he suffered during a three-year stint as counselor at a residential treatment center in Portsmouth.
Whenever he visited his sister, Veronica White of Chesapeake, Gregory talked about how he was going to go back with a gun one day to The Pines, the Crawford Parkway facility from which Gregory resigned in 1992.
Gregory swore that when he went back, there would be violence.
``I saw him on Friday the 13th, and he was talking about it then,'' White said Wednesday.
On numerous occasions, he made similar comments to his other sister, Shirley Gregory.
``He always said he would do that,'' Gregory said Wednesday. ``And he said that if you would ever get into a situation like that, go on and kill yourself.''
Neither of the women took their brother seriously. Instead, they believed Gregory would continue his quiet life as a self-employed house painter, staying to himself in the tiny, four-room house he rented on Deep Creek Boulevard.
Gregory had no violent criminal history, his sisters said. And four peaceful years had passed since he left The Pines.
But his prophetic statements came true Wednesday morning when Gregory died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on the second floor of The Pines. Before he died, Gregory released the two hostages he had held most of Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning.
Police believe that Gregory went to the treatment center seeking revenge after shooting to death 32-year-old Fred Boone outside Gregory's Deep Creek Boulevard home. The two men had argued moments before over a disputed payment for repairs to Gregory's car.
That confrontation apparently pushed Gregory over the edge, White said.
``That man just pushed Tim too far,'' White said.
The Pines hostages survived, she thinks, only because her brother could not find the supervisor whom he held responsible for the way he was treated as an employee.
That supervisor, Gregory believed, destroyed his professional career as a counselor. It was a calling Gregory held dear, after training for the career at Norfolk State University and spending six years in the Army.
At first, Gregory's career at The Pines seemed to be going well. He liked the work, his sisters said, and his employers seemed to like him. But eventually, they said, The Pines began cutting back her brother's hours. Ultimately, he was working so infrequently that it no longer made any sense for him to continue going to work, they said. Finally, he resigned.
Then, when he tried unsuccessfully to get a job as a probation officer in Norfolk, Gregory began to believe that his references were being sabotaged by authorities at The Pines, his sister said.
``He thought they had ruined his references,'' Shirley Gregory said.
It was something that haunted him for the rest of his life. ``He never let go of it,'' said White. ``He said that the last thing he was going to do was, he was going to get that person who did that to him.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photos courtesy of family
Relatives say counseling was a career Timothy Gregory held dear,
training for it at Norfolk State University. After graduating,
above, he spent six years in the Army.
KEYWORDS: MURDER SUICIDE SHOOTING
HOSTAGES by CNB