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HUNTSVILLE, Ala. » A SWAT team found two people dead from an apparent murder-suicide at Huntsville home today after a five-hour standoff in which police evacuated nearby residents and closed off streets in the surrounding subdivision.
A woman with serious injuries from a gunshot wound was rushed to a hospital, Al.com reported. Two young children police found inside the house were unharmed, Huntsville police spokesman Harry Hobbs said.
A suspect police had been trying to talk into surrendering was found dead inside the home, as was a second woman. Hobbs said police believe the suspect committed suicide with a handgun recovered at the scene.
"Currently, the evidence looks as if the suspect shot the two women," said Hobbs, who did not immediately identify the suspect or any of the victims.
Police were called to the Knox Creek subdivision at about 7:40 a.m. today to what they believed was a domestic dispute. Hobbs did not give a specific motive for the shootings.
When police arrived, the suspect and others were barricaded inside the house. Officers evacuated residents within a block of the some and closed off three streets in the subdivision while negotiators tried to persuade the suspect to end the standoff peacefully.
Negotiators and SWAT team members decided it was necessary for police to enter the home "as information was developed and we found that maybe someone was injured and there were children involved," Hobbs said.
He said the suspect and one of the women were both dead when team members entered the home. He said the second woman who had been shot was seriously injured but "we hope will survive this."
The subdivision is located about a mile from Madison-Limestone county line. It’s a normally quiet neighborhood of small homes owned by families with young children and retirees.
