Police: Connecticut man kills wife, shoots her mother

OXFORD -- Two women were shot Wednesday morning, one fatally, inside a home in Oxford, and state police took the dead woman's husband into custody following a manhunt.

Scott Gellatly, 46, entered his mother-in-law's home near Swan Lake at about 6 a.m. and allegedly shot his estranged wife, 32-year-old Lori Gellatly, and her mother.

Lori Gellatly was taken to Waterbury Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Authorities initially believed she had been abducted by her husband, but investigators later determined nobody had been taken hostage, State Police Lt. Paul Vance said.

The other victim was in critical condition at Saint Mary's Hospital, which was placed under a temporary lockdown as a precaution while Scott Gellatly remained at large.

Police believe he left the house in a blue SUV, which was later discovered unoccupied at a nearby business. He was later found in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant with the car running and a hose running from the exhaust pipe into the car. Authorities believe he was trying to kill himself.

He had apparently switched the license plates and was not in the original car they were looking for, but the plates matched the original vehicle.

Vance said two toddlers were in the house at the time of the shootings but neither was injured. He said they were placed in the care of family members and were safe.

Vance said police had been to the home previously but would not say why.

Posts on Gellatly's Facebook page indicate the couple had been have marital problems for months and that she had moved out of their home, which is located in the same neighborhood.

Scott Gellatly had accused his wife on Facebook of having an affair. Two weeks ago, she obtained a restraining order against him, writing, "He acts out very violently and I am afraid for my kids and myself."