WZZM13 - Police investigate apparent murder-suicide

Another one. What the heck is going on in Western Michigan.....

Dee wrote:

Another one. What the heck is going on in Western Michigan.....

There's been more than one? recently?

I was beginning to wonder that myself. We didn't get too many details on the last one either.

John M wrote:

<quoted text> There's been more than one? recently?

I know that is why I said another one. Meaning more than one. The last one was last week I believe with the two male roommates. I just don't get this, I could never take a life no matter how low I felt and believe me I have had some really low points in my life.

John M wrote:

<quoted text> There's been more than one? recently?

Sorry I meant to say yes, there was on just last week in the Howard City area. Two male roommates.

Sand Lake on Tuesday?

As for whats the matter with West Michigan? Nothing at all for the most part. 99.999% are making do just fine, its the .0001 that make the news.

Return to your mormal activities folks...move along, nothing to see here.

Dan in Rockford

I pray for the family though, it is so sad when tragedy strikes, and in this case it will be difficult for the family to get the answers they want.

Oh so sad!

It seems as if the news of Chris Benoit's murder/suicide is having an effect on some people.

who is it

I just read that both were teachers in the Byron Center school district.

The female victim was the volleyball coach and a special education teacher.

The male shooter was an elementary school gym teacher part time and worked as a trainer at the high school as well.

i have four kids kinda scary to think these were teachers what if he would have lost it at school

Joe was a wonderful person and although what is alledged he did does not take away from the person we all know. May God be with both of their famalies.

Both Cristi and Joe were great people. Not sure what went wrong, but may God be with both of them, their families, and their friends. This is so unexpected and so far out of character that it is almost unbelievable even after reading it and seeing the reports.

I am a student at Byron Center high school. When I heard about this death from ym friend Kyle Lunsted it surprized me. Mr. Frees has always been nice. I sprained my Ancle at cheerleading and he helped me with it and took care of me. I never expected something like this to happen. Its just so hard losing 4 people that you know and care about in two weeks. Especially classmates and teachers.

I knew both of these individuals quite well. This was completely out of character for Joe. He rarely ever got mad, and he certainly was never an angry drunk.

For the lady from Hopkins...he would never hurt a child and his family is still shocked that he hurt Cristi.

Like I said, this was completly out of character for him. He wasn't the violent type and this comes as a complete shock to us all. There must be something more to the story that we all don't know.

as a graduate of byron center, there is no way that joe would have hurt anyone at school..the only reason this probably happen was because coach curt even said that he was drunk that night

i loved coach curt and frees always treated me amazingly when he worked on my knees

miss you coach!

This is so sad. She was a great teacher and friend. I have been out of the loop, does anyone know "what's the scoop" on arrangements?
She said that all the time in class and she will not be forgotten.

I would just like to say that my thoughts a prayers go out to the Curtis's. It's a sad day to see a wonderful lady such as Cristi have to loss her life over such a thing like this. She was a wonderful coach, teacher and a friend to many. I just want to say thanks for being a good example of what a teacher and a coach should be like. You will be missed and hard to be replaced.

I go to Byron Center HS, Cristi Curtis was my volleyball coach, and she was great. I didnt get a chance to play for her in season, but just over summer. I will be a sophmore this year, she taught me many things about the sport, that I love, and I wish that she would still be around to help me even more. Frees, was also a great guy. It's still hard to think that he would have done this to her.
Our community is going through a very rough time, losing two teenagers in a car accident just a week before this happened. My friends.
By the way, she was NOT supposed to be at Aquinas on friday where she failed to show up, she was supposed to be with the Varsity Volleyball team at Byron Center coaching us through a volleyball camp/tournement at Grand Valley.
Keep the families in your prayers.

I am still numb about all of this. Joe was my friend, and as its been stated, there is no way this would have happened at the school. I am disgusted he did this.

My deepest regards go out to the families and friends of these two individuals.

We will never know exactly what went on between the two for it to escalate this far, but there is something we can take away from this. Intoxication can be a dangerous thing, be careful- who knows what you could be preventing.

G-d bless all.