Police probe shooting death

Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)

2002-11-21

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Police probe shooting death Photo by Bob Pennell The pregnant Central Point woman died while her husband and two children were away By BILL KETTLER Mail Tribune CENTRAL POINT - Police said Sunday they have no suspects in the shooting death of the pregnant wife of a National Guardsman who was scheduled to leave the Rogue Valley this week for duty overseas. Kerry Michelle Repp's body was found Saturday afternoon in their Central Point home, near Crater High School. Central Point Police Chief Mike Sweeny would not say where or how Repp, 29, had been shot. Her husband, Gary Marvin Repp Jr., 33, was scheduled to leave this week with the 186th Infantry Battalion of the Oregon Army National Guard for the Sinai Peninsula. The soldiers leave Thursday for Fort Carson, Colo., for two months of advanced training and will then spend six months in the Sinai Peninsula on peacekeeping duty. Sweeny said Gary Repp and the couple's two children were away from home on a trip with other family members when the shooting occurred. Kerry Repp was about three months pregnant with the couple's third child. Sweeny said investigators still had not determined how the shooting happened. "We haven't determined if there's even a crime at this time. We haven't been able to conclusively determine if it was a self-inflicted wound or if she was shot by another person." Gary Repp had just finished recruit school with the Oregon State Police and had been assigned to the Lakeview district, said state police Lt. Dan Durbin. He was being trained in the Rogue Valley because the Lakeview district did not have enough troopers to give him field training time. Gary Repp, a 1987 graduate of North Medford High School, and a 1990 graduate of Southern Oregon State College, also had worked as a Jackson County probation and parole officer and a Medford police officer. Investigators came and went from the Repp's Hazel Avenue house Sunday evening as the search for evidence continued. An American flag and a black POW-MIA flag hung beside the garage, and petunias bloomed in a planter box. Durbin said Repp's National Guard orders would most likely be canceled. "My intention is to contact his superiors (today) and see what his status is." Gary Repp is a captain in the battalion staff office, said Maj. Ron McKay, chaplain for the Guard unit. He oversees the unit's operations, but does not command troops in the field. "The mission will go forward," McKay said. "If he's not available to perform his duties, there'll be somebody else to step into his place." Sweeny said Jackson County's major assault and death investigation unit will pursue the case. The unit includes police officers from Medford, Ashland and Central Point, Oregon State Police, Jackson County Sheriff's Department, and the Jackson County District Attorney's office. "It's fairly obvious that we're scrutinizing this even more extensively because (Gary Repp) was involved in the criminal justice community," Sweeny said. Reach reporter Bill Kettler at 776-4492, or e-mail [email protected]     Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.