{"id":16299,"date":"2025-10-03T19:46:38","date_gmt":"2025-10-04T01:46:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/durango-shooting-victim-identified-as-66-year-old-grandmother\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T21:56:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:56:20","slug":"durango-shooting-victim-identified-as-66-year-old-grandmother","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/durango-shooting-victim-identified-as-66-year-old-grandmother\/","title":{"rendered":"Durango shooting victim identified as 66-year-old grandmother"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Wanda
Wanda Murray (Courtesy of GoFundMe)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

A family member of the woman killed Thursday during a shooting near the Walmart in Durango identified the victim as Wanda Murray, 66, of Durango.<\/p>\n

Wanda and her assailant, Michael Murray, 74, were taken to Mercy Hospital on Thursday afternoon after Michael reportedly shot the woman before turning the gun on himself, according to Durango Police Department.<\/p>\n

Both individuals were pronounced dead Thursday evening.<\/p>\n

Durango Police Department said in a Facebook post Friday afternoon that Michael approached Wanda as she was leaving her place of work near Walmart, getting into the passenger side of her vehicle. She immediately left the vehicle and tried to flee, and Michael followed.<\/p>\n

\n

For help<\/h4>\n

Help for people having suicidal thoughts or for those who fear a person is considering suicide:<\/p>\n

Axis Care Hotline<\/strong>:24\/7 local response to your crisis & behavioral health needs: 247-5245<\/p>\n

NATIONAL SUICIDE PREVENTION HOTLINE<\/strong>:988<\/p>\n

RED NACIONAL DE PREVENCI\u00d3N DEL SUICIDIO<\/strong>:988<\/p>\n

FORT LEWIS COLLEGE COUNSELING CENTER<\/strong>:247-7212<\/p>\n

BOYS TOWN HOTLINE<\/strong>:(800) 448-3000.<\/p>\n

SAFE2TELL COLORADO<\/strong>:(877) 542-7233 or safe2tell.org<\/p>\n

COLORADO CRISIS SUPPORT LINE<\/strong>:(844) 493-8255 or text \u201cTALK\u201d to 38255 or online at coloradocrisisservices.org to access a live chat available in 17 languages. The line has mental-health professionals available to talk to adults or youths 24 hours a day.<\/p>\n

AMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR SUICIDE PREVENTION<\/strong>:Colorado chapter information available at afsp.org\/chapter\/afsp-colorado\/<\/p>\n

FOR MEN<\/strong>:A website for adult men contemplating suicide is available at mantherapy.org<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

When Wanda looked back, Michael took out a handgun and shot her, knocking her down. He then turned the gun on himself and fired into his chest, according to DPD.<\/p>\n

The police department said bystanders immediately called 911. DPD, La Plata County Sheriff\u2019s Office and Durango Fire Protection District responded within minutes and began life-saving measures on both individuals.<\/p>\n

It is unclear how many bystanders witnessed the incident, said Tom Sluis, spokesperson for the city of Durango.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we understand the public\u2019s desire to know exactly what happened, this case is still open,\u201d said Police Chief Brice Current. \u201cInterviews are being conducted, evidence is being reviewed, and we are committed to a thorough and respectful investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Noting the traumatic nature of the incident, DPD said on Facebook that resources and support are available to family members, employees and community members who may have been affected.<\/p>\n

\n

Domestic violence resources<\/h4>\n

Manna soup kitchen: 385-5095<\/strong>Food market. Showers. ID assistance. Snap application assistance.<\/p>\n

Women\u2019s Resource Center: 247-1242<\/strong>Womenade. Scholarships. Computer access.<\/p>\n

Southwest Safehouse: 259-5443<\/strong>Safe housing for survivors of intimate partner violence.<\/p>\n

Colorado Legal Services: 247-0266<\/strong>Civil legal services.<\/p>\n

Sexual assault services organization (SASO) hotline: 247-5400<\/strong>Advocacy. Prevention education programs.24\/7 hotline.<\/p>\n

Advocates available at these locations:<\/strong>Manna soup kitchen: First and third Thursdays of the month from 10 a.m. to noon. Pine River Library: Second and fourth Wednesdays of the month from 2 to 4 p.m. Fort Lewis College Phoenix center: Every Tuesday and Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. during the school year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In a GoFundMe post, Denver resident Savannah Chavez said Murray is her grandmother. GoFundMe verified the authenticity of the fundraising campaign.<\/p>\n

Chavez is seeking to raise $3,000 for her grandmother. She described Murray as \u201ca light to everyone she encountered and an amazing human being.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said Murray\u2019s suspected killer was an \u201cabusive ex-husband.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to emphasize how afraid she was of this man and how preventable this is,\u201d she said in a phone interview with The Durango Herald<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Chavez said she spoke with Wanda on Thursday morning, and her grandmother mentioned how afraid she was of Michael and that she had a \u201cbad feeling.\u201d She suspected Michael had vandalized her vehicle.<\/p>\n

Wanda had contemplated filing for a restraining order and going to the police about Michael, Chavez said, but she is uncertain if Wanda had done so.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew he was trying to hurt her, but we didn\u2019t know that it would go this far,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She described her relationship with Wanda as \u201cextremely close,\u201d and it had been so since Chavez\u2019s childhood. They would talk on the phone several times a day. Chavez lived with Wanda for a period after the death of her mother, Jacqueline Chavez<\/a>, who was found dead on the Colorado Trail near the trailhead on Junction Creek Road in March.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were best friends my entire childhood,\u201d Chavez said. \u201cShe was the closest person to me in my entire life.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said people need to be aware of avenues of recourse, such as restraining or protection orders, and resources for victims of domestic violence.<\/p>\n

The Colorado Judicial Branch hosts information about protection orders and forms online at coloradojudicial.gov\/self-help\/getting-protection-order<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Wanda was well-known around Durango, and everyone who knew her were aware of \u201cwhat an amazing person she was, because she truly was a really great lady,\u201d Chavez said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy life has always been quite complicated, and I\u2019ve climbed a lot of mountains, but Wanda was and still is my rock,\u201d Chavez said on GoFundMe<\/a>. \u201cThe thought of living without her is absolutely sickening, but together we can and we will.\u201d<\/p>\n

DPD asked witnesses and people who may have useful information to call the police department at 385-2900.<\/p>\n

cburney@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shooter described as \u2018abusive ex-husband\u2019; granddaughter says outcome was preventable<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16300,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[168,923,150,28,1310,390],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-16299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-crime","tag-domestic-violence","tag-firearms","tag-headlines","tag-safety-of-citizens","tag-shooting"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16299"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16299\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20124,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16299\/revisions\/20124"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16299"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=16299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}