QuickTake:

A university spokesperson said UO community is “deeply saddened” by the death of LeAnna Pitts, who had worked at the university for about 10 years.

A 52-year-old woman police say was shot and killed by her husband Thursday, Oct. 1, worked as a director in the facilities department at the University of Oregon.

LeAnna Pitts was director of work management and administrative support within the university’s Campus Planning and Facilities Management team.

“The University of Oregon is deeply saddened by the death of LeAnna Pitts. Our thoughts are with her family, friends, and colleagues during this incredibly difficult time,” Angela Seydel, a UO spokesperson, said in a statement Friday.

On Thursday morning police responded to a home on the 5400 block of Fox Hollow Road, near the southern city limits of Eugene. Pitts had been shot and killed, Eugene police spokesperson Chelsea Deffenbacher said Thursday.

Gregory Allen Pitts, 55, has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with his wife’s shooting death.

The couple were living together and the shooting took place at their home, Deffenbacher said Friday. LeAnna Pitts was found deceased after a police “welfare check.”

The couple once worked together to help teens dealing with substance abuse, according to published reports.

A social media profile for LeAnna Pitts listed her as working from 1999 to 2008 with Teen Challenge Pacific Northwest.

A 2006 news article described Greg Pitts as a former youth pastor in Lebanon working with his wife, LeAnna, on a Teen Challenge project in Springfield. The Eugene Register-Guard reported that the couple opened what was known as the Teen Challenge Thrift Store just off Mohawk Boulevard near a Bi-Mart store.

Their goal was to raise money for a residential treatment center that would house teens looking to stay off drugs.

LeAnna Pitts had a personal tie to the faith-based Teen Challenge, which at the time was under the umbrella of a national organization led by her father, Mike Hodges. The organization is now known as Adult & Teen Challenge, and has a regional operation based in Milwaukie run by Chris Hodges, brother of LeAnna Pitts.

At the University of Oregon, facilities and planning staffers described LeAnna Pitts as “much loved, admired, and respected,” Seydel said in an email.

“She was an amazing person, supervisor, and coworker. This is a huge loss and those who loved her are heartbroken,” Seydel said.

The university is making support available to employees, Seydel said.

An organizational chart on the university’s website listed Pitts as overseeing four managers tasked with various construction and facilities responsibilities.

Pitts worked at UO since 2016, Seydel said. A social media profile for Pitts listed her as previously working for eight years at Oregon State University, including time as a facilities manager.

Police had responded Thursday morning to a home on the 5400 block of Fox Hollow Road, and by the afternoon said they had a suspect, later identified as Gregory Allen Pitts, in custody. He was being held in Lane County Jail.