Family mourns loss of Pa. game warden

Associated Press

HARRISBURG

The family of slain Pennsylvania game warden David L. Grove has been trying to make sense of his death in the line of duty and focusing on their positive memories, his brother said.

Chad M. Grove described his younger brother as outgoing and fun-loving, a devout Christian who took his job seriously and loved spending time outdoors.

Chad Grove, of Martinsburg, W.Va., said he has been remembering the good times they shared, but it pains him to think that the last person his brother saw alive was probably the man accused of shooting him to death, Christopher Lynn Johnson of Fairfield.

Johnson, 27, has been charged with killing David Grove, a Pennsylvania Game Commission wildlife conservation officer, late Thursday in a rural area outside Gettysburg. Police said Johnson told them he shot Grove and that, as a felon, he did not want to go back to prison for gun possession.

The police affidavit said Johnson had been pulled over by Grove and was partially handcuffed when a gunfight took place in which he is alleged to have shot Grove four times with a .45-caliber handgun.

Johnson, who apparently was shot in the hip, was arrested the next morning at a hunting camp. He told investigators he shot off the handcuffs and threw the gun into the woods, police said.

Chad, David and their sister Jennifer grew up in south-central Pennsylvania’s Franklin County, in the Mercersburg area, and then in State Line.

Jennifer and their parents, Dana and Lucy Grove, live near Waynesboro.

David Grove attended the Mount Alto campus of Penn State for two years, then finished up at the main campus in State College. He had a steady girlfriend at the time of his death.

“My brother was definitely the life of the party,” Chad Grove said. “He was always the one who loved to cut up and joke and carry on.”