3 Indiana deaths believed to be homicides, suicide

FORT WAYNE, Ind. — Investigators were trying to determine why a man killed two people before fatally shooting himself in a case that started when a woman thousands of miles away told police they should check on a house in Fort Wayne.

Police spokesman Officer Scott Tegtmeyer said Sunday that investigators still have no possible motives in the killings.

“We have to figure out why, what the issue was here, what caused this man to kill two others and then himself,” Tegtmeyer told The Associated Press.

The deaths of Ryann Tipton and Erin Jehl, both 19 of Fort Wayne, were ruled homicides Sunday by Allen County Coroner E. Jon Brandenberger. He wouldn’t disclose how many times each had been shot or what their wounds were.

The name of the man who killed himself was being withheld until authorities could use fingerprints to confirm his identity, Brandenberger said. His death was ruled a suicide.

Tegtmeyer said he didn’t know if any of the three lived at the house where the bodies were found. He wouldn’t say how the woman in Washington state who alerted police knew to tell officers to check on the house Saturday.

Police have said officers responding to the woman’s request arrived at the house and peered through a window. They saw a man inside who appeared unresponsive. They entered the home and found the three people who had been shot.

All three were pronounced dead at the scene.