AMAZING TRAGEDY

Northern Advocate, 12 August 1935, Page 5

AMAZING TRAGEDY

FOUR PEOPLE SHOT HUSBAND FIRES ON WIFE IN CROWD. THEN COMMITS SUICIDE. (Received 10 a.m.) LONDON, August 11. Four people are dead as the result Of an amazing shooting drama near the village of Green Shutford, Oxfordshire. A bus from Banbury drew up, as the villagers were dispersing after the annual fete, and Wilfred Gibbs, 29, a blacksmith, allegedly fired a gun atthe occupants, and then turned the weapon on himself. He fell dead, and his wife, Ellen, 25, her sister, Ivy Goode, 21, Joseph Messenger, 40, and William Messenger, 46, were taken to hospital. All died except William Messenger. ' The tragedy is said to .be due to domestic differences between Mr and Mrs Gibbs. The Messenger brothers were not concerned, and were hit by shots intended for Mrs Gibbs, and possibly her sister. Mr and Mrs Gibbs were married three years ago, and separated lyThe close range accounted for the deadliness of Gibbs’ shooting, M!rs Gibbs and the Messenger brothers were in the line of the first bullet, which crashed through Mrs Gibbs’ chest and passed through Joseph Messenger’s abdomen, lodging in William Messenger’s knee. Mrs Gibbs . stood gasping, saying “My husband has shot me.” She collapsed as her husband fired again and missed her. The bullet struck Miss Goode, also piercing the side of the bus, and passing through a cottage window. A later message reported that all is now quiet. It is also learned the destination of the Minister of the Interior is London.