Man shoots wife, kills self after domestic dispute

Posted at: 08/28/2009 11:40 AM | Updated at: 08/29/2009 5:21 AM
By: Charlie Pabst and Reed Upton, KOB.com

A driving school owner recently arrested for DWI is dead and his wife is wounded following a domestic dispute this morning in the Northeast Heights that forced a lockdown at a nearby school.

Police confirmed Friday afternoon that Thomas McGinnis, who owned the T.J. McGinnis School of Driving and was recently arrested for DWI in Rio Rancho, shot and killed himself Friday morning after shooting his wife.

Police say that Tom McGinnis had been drinking prior to the incident and the couple may have been arguing about his recent drunk driving arrest.

Police say that Susan McGinnis went to a neighbor’s home after being shot in the leg and called police.

When officers arrived at the scene near Spain and Tramway, they began a search for Thomas McGinnis, and surrounded his home. 

While the search was underway, Georgia O’Keeffe Elementary School was placed on lockdown.

Police eventually found McGinnis dead in his backyard from a gunshot wound.

The couple's 17-year-old son was at school at the time. Officers later went to the school to notify the teen his father was dead.

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