Mom shot by husband in critical condition; was picking up children from visitation (Niles, Illinois)

Once again, we have the police acting like idiots and claiming they have "no motive" as for why dad GREGORY VAUGHN shot his "estranged" wife as she was picking up their children from visitation with their father.

How freaking obvious does it have to be? It's a standard power-and-control case. Dad losing power and control over "his" woman (but not over his children, thanks to the idiots who awarded him visitation). So in reality, this woman was set up. And for God's sake, how can the police scratch their heads like morons when police were called to the home 4 TIMES in the weeks before the shootings for domestic violence? And in one incident, it seems Daddy was successful in convincing the police that Mom was the aggressor, which probably just embolded him even more. (This is typical of abusers, that they try to muddy the waters by counter-accusing.) Looks like y'all made the wrong call on that one, huh?

http://www.pioneerlocal.com/parkridge/news/2065751,park-ridge-shooting-022510-s1.article

NILES POLICE: Woman shot by her husband in critical condition

February 23, 2010
By JENNIFER JOHNSON

A Niles mother of three remained hospitalized and in critical condition this week after she was shot Feb. 16 by her estranged husband in an attempted murder-suicide outside the home they once shared just north of Park Ridge.

According to Niles Police Sgt. Tom Davis investigators do not have a motive for why Gregory Vaughn, 46, of the 8100 block of Prospect Avenue, in Niles, shot his wife, Amy Vaughn, 46, in the face before turning the gun on himself, said Sgt. Tom Davis.

"We don't really know what was going through his head," Davis said, stating only that the couple were going through a divorce. Court documents indicate Amy Vaughn had filed for divorce in mid-January.

Gregory Vaughn did not leave behind a note of any kind, Davis said.

According to police Amy Vaughn, who was staying with a relative in Northbrook, was inside her vehicle, waiting to pick up her children for a visitation about 3:40 p.m. when Gregory Vaughn approached her. Amy Vaughn reportedly told investigators that she lowered her window a few inches when her husband held up a gun and fired it at her, striking her in the left cheek.

When police officers arrived at the scene they found Gregory Vaughn dead in the street from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head and recovered a .32-caliber pistol, police said. An autopsy found that Gregory Vaughn died of a gunshot wound to the mouth and his death was ruled a suicide, according to the Medical Examiner's Office.

At the time of the shooting the Vaughns' three children, ages 11, 13 and 16, were inside the home, according to police.

In the weeks leading up to the shooting and suicide, Niles police were called to the Prospect Avenue home four times. On Jan. 21 and 22, police responded to domestic disputes involving the Vaughns, one leading to the arrest of Amy Vaughn, and on Jan. 29 police were called to a reported visitation interference involving Gregory Vaughn, Davis said. On Feb. 16, a little more than two hours before the shooting, police responded to a motor-vehicle accident at the address.

Emerson Middle School in Niles and Field Elementary School in Park Ridge, two of the schools the Vaughn children attended, sent home letters to parents last week advising them of the incident and offering support services to any students in need.

Gregory Vaughn was the owner of Owner's Choice Auto Body, which had locations in Des Plaines, Highland Park and Elk Grove Village.

A funeral mass for Gregory Vaughn was held Saturday at Our Lady of Ransom Catholic Church in Niles. Amy Vaughn remained hospitalized at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, where a hospital spokesperson listed her condition as critical Monday.