CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Division of Police reports that three people are dead, including the suspect, after an hourslong standoff involving SWAT crews in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood.
Police officials tell 3News that they first received a call around 7:35 p.m. Tuesday regarding a man holed up inside the residence near the intersection of East 154th Street and Hampstead Avenue. The man said he was going to harm himself and had already casued "serious harm to others."
Officers arriving at the scene determined that the suspect was armed. Police set up a perimeter and a SWAT crew was on scene to begin the negotiation process.
Several nearby homes were evacuated, while others were asked to shelter-in-place inside their homes.
"To err on the side of caution, we want to make sure residents are safe," explained Cleveland Division of Police Deputy Chief Ali Pillow. "There's an individual with a weapon there who could fire it."
The standoff continued through the overnight hours into Wednesday morning.
A Cuyahoga County SWAT team provided relieved the Cleveland police SWAT unit as negotiations continued.
Finally, police say the 15-hour standoff ended at around 10:30 a.m. as the suspect died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Two other people were found dead inside the home. Investigators say the incident happened as a result of a family conflict, but do not know the specific relationship as of yet.
The two victims have been identified as 51-year-old Ritchie Welch and 65-year-old Regina Young-Fellows. The suspect has been identified as Norris Richardson.
You can watch the Cleveland Division of Police briefing from Wednesday in the player below: