Minnesota connection to Navy Yard shootings

SHOREVIEW, Minn. (AP) -- A Shoreview woman lost her sister-in-law in the mass shooting at the Washington Navy Yard.

Janet Hartsvet says Kathy Gaarde is among the 12 people killed Monday by a former Navy reservist who was slain in a gun battle with police. Hartsvet tells that in addition to her brother, Kathy leaves behind two children, ages 26 and 33. Hartsvet says her sister-in-law worked on military contracts at the Navy Yard and was approaching retirement.

In an email to The Associated Press, Gaarde's husband, Douglass, said he and his wife had been married 38 years and were just starting to plan their retirement activities. Gaarde says his 63-year-old wife was a financial analyst. The couple lived in Woodbridge, Va.

Douglass Gaarde declined to speak, but wrote that he was unable to sleep.

"Today my life partner of 42 years (38 of them married) was taken from me, my grown son and daughter, and friends," he wrote. "We were just starting to plan our retirement activities and now none of that matters. It hasn't fully sunk in yet but I know I already dearly miss her."

Madelyn Gaarde, of Grand Junction, Colo., who's married to Douglass Gaarde's brother, said her sister- and brother-in-law met while he was studying electrical engineering at the University of South Florida in Tampa.

Douglass Gaarde, an Illinois native, also worked for the Navy until his retirement last year, his sister-in-law said.

"She was a very gracious person and very welcoming," she said of Kathleen Gaarde.