Heroin Blamed for Couple's Murder-Suicide in Halethorpe

HALETHORPE, MD — Two people are dead in Halethorpe after a five-hour standoff with Baltimore County Police that authorities are calling a murder-suicide.

Relatives of the unidentified victims blame the tragedy on heroin addiction.

Police were called to the 4400 block of Fenor Road just before 9 a.m. on an assault. They soon learned a woman had been shot and an armed man remained in the house.

Nearby Baltimore Highlands Elementary School was placed on alert status during this standoff.

About 10:45 a.m., tactical officers recovered the body of a woman from the front of the home.

Negotiators talked with the suspect and tried to get him to surrender, police say, but the man would not give himself up.

About 1:30 p.m., the man was seen lying on the floor, suffering from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was declared dead at the scene.

The Baltimore County Police Department Homicide Unit is investigating the incident at the home as a murder/suicide. The suspect and victim are boyfriend/girlfriend.

Friends and relatives told WBAL the incident was tied to drugs and heroin.

"When you're in an active addiction and you're not thinking about what you're doing, you're in addiction. That's what addition is. It takes away your thoughts. It takes away your feelings. It rips, it takes your soul. That's what it does," said Dominic Dattilo, a relative of the suspect.