Please keep FF. Devine and his family in your thoughts and prayers.
Local Firefighter Shoots Himself At UConn’s Groton Campus
By CHRISTINE DEMPSEY and ANTHONY DILORENZO, [email protected]
The Hartford Courant
7:11 p.m. EDT, July 24, 2012
GROTON —
The man who fatally shot himself early Tuesday at UConn’s Avery Point campus after a standoff with police was a local firefighter, fitness trainer and university graduate. Timothy Devine, 30, was a firefighter with the Poquonnock Bridge Fire District for four years, said Chief Todd M. Paige.
"Firefighter Devine was a dedicated firefighter with an exemplary record who took great pride in serving the community," Paige said in a written statement. "The Poquonnock Bridge Fire Department is deeply saddened by the sudden loss and is extending their support to his family at this extremely difficult time."
Devine was a 2010 graduate of the bachelor of general studies program at the Avery Point campus, said university spokeswoman Stephanie Reitz. He owned a gym called CrossFit Groton. Devine wrote on his Facebook page that he got hooked on the CrossFit method of fitness training after he tried it through a coworker at the firehouse. Also on his Facebook page is a picture of his close friend and fellow firefighter Todd Williamson, who died of cancer in 2010. "His ordeal brought to light the true importance of health and wellness," Devine wrote.
Devine’s own ordeal came to the attention of police on Monday.
According to a press release from the state police, who are investigating Devine’s death, Groton-area police received a report of a despondent man at about 5 p.m. They later learned the man might have a weapon.
With officers from the University of Connecticut, Stonington, Ledyard and from the city and town of Groton involved, Devine’s car was found at about 10 p.m. on the Avery Point campus, parked near the water. A short time later, the state police said, officers found Devine standing on the rocks at the shoreline. He was armed with a handgun and would not drop it, they said. At times, he waved the weapon.
Police started talking to him and called the state police tactical team and negotiators. A trooper and a local officer talked to him for several hours in an effort to convince him to disarm, to no avail, Lt. J. Paul Vance said.
For more information go to: http://www.courant.com/community/groton/hc-groton-uconn-armed-man-0725-20120724,0,694274.story
