Three dead, one seriously injured in shooting at housing complex in Elkhart
Elkhart Police were called to 2601 Oakland Avenue just after 9 a.m. to investigate a shooting.
When they arrived, they found a woman with a gunshot wound to the chest. She was taken to Elkhart General Hospital where she is in critical condition.
Police conducted a systematic search of the housing complex in a search for other victims.
“During that search they located three additional victims. Those victims are all deceased. That was two males and one female. It appears that one of the male victims that they found that is deceased is going to be our suspect in the original shooting that led us here as well as the shooting of the two other people that were in that apartment," said Elkhart Police Chief Chris Snyder.
The victims were identified as 66-year-old Gail Shields and her 66-year-old boyfriend, Jon Malk.
Officers also located the body of the suspect, Lawrence Faso, 76, according to Elkhart County Homicide Unit Commander Mark Daggy.
Police completed a search of the entire complex and did not find any additional victims.
An official who spoke on condition of anonymity said Faso was angry with his downstairs neighbors because they grilled out on their patio even though he complained about it.
When the victims, Shields and Malk, began grilling Wednesday morning, Faso went down to their apartment and shot and killed them both, the official said.
Faso was allegedly angry the office person didn't do anything about his complaints and shot the office worker, the official said.
“It’s a horrible day for our community and law enforcement. I don’t know that if I had family member in there, I don’t know how I'd react, but the fact that they listened to what we asked them to do and were able to communicate with them. That certainly made our job a lot easier today," Snyder said.