On August 19, 1997, Dennis Lee Joos, a 51-year-old White male and editor of the Colebrook News and Sentinel, was killed after confronting an armed attacker inside the newspaper office. The sequence began when Carl Drega opened fire in a supermarket parking lot, killing New Hampshire State Trooper Scott Phillips and later Trooper Leslie Lord. Drega then stole Phillips’ cruiser and drove to the building housing the local newspaper and part-time judge Vickie Bunnell’s law office.

Vickie Bunnell was shot in the back and killed while fleeing and trying to warn others. Joos ran toward the shooter and attempted to disarm him; during the struggle for the rifle Joos was fatally shot. Drega then fled, wounded additional officers, and was eventually killed in a shootout in Bloomfield, Vermont. The town lost four people that day, including the editor whose actions helped protect others.

If anyone knew Dennis Joos or was in Colebrook that day and can share details about his life or the events at the newspaper, please come forward.