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SWAT standoff in Lafayette Falls subdivision deemed murder-suicide

South Bend police on the scene of a SWAT standoff in the 6400 block of Armstrong Drive in South Bend on Thursday, Dec. 1, 2022.
South Bend police on the scene of a SWAT standoff in the 6400 block of Armstrong Drive in South Bend on Thursday, Dec. 1, 2022.

SOUTH BEND — A Thursday night shooting and SWAT standoff in the Lafayette Falls subdivision has been ruled a murder-suicide by South Bend police.

The incident, in which police believe Alfred Cleveland shot and killed Catherine Cleveland before fatally shooting himself, is the second reported murder-suicide in the past week in South Bend.

The call started as an assault and shooting around 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the 6400 block of Armstrong Drive. Responding officers found one woman, later identified as 66-year-old Catherine Cleveland, suffering from a gunshot wound outside the residence. Catherine Cleveland was taken to the hospital for treatment, but died from her injuries, police said.

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According to a release from the police department, officers on the scene then learned a man — later determined to be 67-year-old Alfred Cleveland — had "barricaded" himself in a house and a standoff ensued. The department's SWAT and crisis negotiation teams were then called to the scene.

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Police say the man was talking with negotiators for a time, but when the line of communication stopped, the SWAT team deployed a "chemical agent" and entered the house, where they found Alfred Cleveland suffering from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The incident on the far southeast side of South Bend comes as the second murder-suicide in the city in the past week.

In the early morning hours of Saturday, South Bend police also responded to the 2800 block of West Calvert Street for reports of a shooting where 60-year-old Debbie Lechtanski and 62-year-old Robert Lechtanski were pronounced dead.

An investigation concluded that Robert Lechtanski shot his wife before shooting himself. A third person in that home at the time was also shot and injured, but was in stable condition as of Wednesday.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: SWAT standoff ruled murder-suicide South Bend police say