ALTUS -- Neighbors of a couple involved in a domestic disturbance that left the man dead and his wife hospitalized said they are glad that a frightening night is over and told of a couple whose arguments could be heard throughout the neighborhood.

Jayme Golden, the next door neighbor of Brett and Gabrielle Bittinger, said she didn't think much about it when she saw police arrive at the 207 Williams Drive home because she had seen them come out there so often. Then she heard gunshots, and she immediately moved to get her children to the back of their home.

Michael Sherlock, who lives across the street and two houses down from the Bittingers, said he should have been walking out the door on his way to work at 10:40 p.m. Wednesday, but was running late. He feels fortunate that his tardiness kept him out of the line of fire.

"I probably would be kissing the pavement right now," he said.

Like Golden, Sherlock had seen police at the home previously and had heard screaming from the house. But neither Golden nor Sherlock said that they had gotten to know the Bittingers very well.

Golden said that such an incident is surprising in a generally quiet north Altus neighborhood.

"It's a real shock because your sense of security is taken," she said. "For this neighborhood, it's real bad."