Life in Ventana Lakes is reserved for tennis and idle time for paddleboats on the community's lakes.

But on Wednesday, a deadly shooting shook the carefree retirement lifestyle, bringing shock and sadness.

Mike McCarthy lives in the Gardens part of the Peoria community, where duplexes are clustered in groups of twos and fours.

He said Wednesday's shooting was difficult to take in, especially because McCarthy's wife, Alina, just died on Monday.

On Wednesday morning, he and neighbors were at her funeral. On any other day, he might have been at the property owners meeting.

"We attended a lot of meetings," said McCarthy, a former committee member. "It's very possible that my friends would have been at the meeting if they hadn't been at the service."

Ventana Lakes, at 107th Avenue and Beardsley Road, got its start as a 480-acre master-planned community in the late 1980s, started by developer Burns International Inc., later to be taken over by Lennar Homes of Arizona Inc.

Designed for about 3,000 people, the property near 99th Avenue and Beardsley Road, doesn't sport a golf course, but there are two clubhouses, a fitness center and lakeside living.

Disruptions in the community have been few over the years, save for concern over the rumble of gravel trucks traveling along Beardsley.

For seven years, 57-year-old Marsha Smith has lived peacefully in the quiet community, enjoying the tree-lined streets and friendliness of her neighbors.

"It's a very nice community, and up until today, no problem," she said.

For Smith, it's been an ideal place for her and husband, Larry, to live.

"This today, really surprises me," she said.

Copyright 2000, Arizona Centrall

to go to the Arizona Republic

• 1. Violence begets violence (4/22/2000)

• 2. Heroes stop rampage (4/20/2000)

• 3. Suspect known in neighborhood for bad temper (4/20/2000)

• 4. Violence mars community's quiet lifestyle (4/20/2000)

• 5. Violence by seniors likely to escalate (4/20/2000)

• 6. Good folks, nice neighbors become violence victims (4/20/2000)

• 7. Gunman told victims he was getting even (4/20/2000) 

• 8. Home foreclosure racket causing violence (4/20/2000) 

• 9. Complex's shooting puts homeowners groups in spotlight (4/20/2000) 

• 10.. 12 millions dollars for faulty buildings (4/15/2000) (Association lawyer Curtis Ekmark)

• 11. Owners groups - ogres or godsends? (4/15/200)

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Homeowner associations: Witnesses & Experts and Victims of political, legal and judicial corruption and abuse, including several of the victims mentioned in the above AHRC article, are available for broadcast interviews, government hearings and investigations. Please call, write or email requests to American Homeowners Resource Center.