Mishawaka parents shot and killed, two charged
MISHAWAKA, Ind. - Two are dead and a neighborhood is in shock after a deadly shooting that nobody expected.
Matt and Lisa Clippinger were shot and killed just after 12:30 a.m. on Saturday at their home on the 700 block of 11th Street on the city’s South side.
Police say the gunman was 41-year-old Steven Clippinger, the brother of Matt.
Steven Clippinger was arrested and charged with two counts of murder Saturday afternoon and his girlfriend, 40-year-old Jennifer Leveque was charged with assisting in the murder.
Each lawn is mowed and the houses are pristine on 11th Street. It’s not the type of area you’d expect a double homicide and not the people you’d expect to find murdered.
“Basically, I’m speechless,” said Shane Groppe a long-time friend of, Matt and Lisa Clippinger’s son, Shane Clippinger.
Groppe has been coming to the Clippinger home for most of his life. Saturday morning he had a phone conversation he never thought he would have. “I called him this morning and he basically said, ‘my parents got shot,’” Groppe said.
According to police Steven Clippinger got out of jail in 2010 for a different murder.
Court documents filed read that early Friday night Steven came to visit Matt and Lisa at the home. Steven had a gun with him.
Knowing it was illegal for Steven to be in possession of a weapon, Matt confiscated the gun and Steven left. When Steven returned after midnight with a different gun the scene unfolded.
Several neighbors report hearing gunshots around 12:30 a.m. Some rushed to help Matt Clippinger laying in the driveway suffering from several gunshot wounds in the including one in his head.
The two children in the home, ages 20 and 12, told investigators they saw their uncle chase down and kill their mother Lisa in the hallway.
“I don’t know what I’d do if I lost my parents,” said Groppe. “It’s a crying shame that this happened.”
According to police a third person was in the getaway truck but no charges have been filed.
Groppe said the Clippinger’s two children are staying with grandparents for now.