Two people are dead after a possible murder-suicide in Dover Township, Tuscarawas County, on Sunday, according to Tuscarawas County Sheriff Orvis L. Campbell.
Just after 1:30 p.m., the Tuscarawas County Sheriff's Office received a call about a shooting at a home on the 2000 block of Gordon Road Northwest, Campbell said.
According to the sheriff, the caller advised the office that she was at the home preparing for a graduation party for a child, who is a resident in the home, when gunshots went off in the house.
Campbell said the caller explained that the child was not in the home at the time of the shooting because the event, which had not started yet, was supposed to be a couple of yards from the house.
The caller told Campbell the man in the home shot his wife and then shot himself.
When deputies arrived at the scene, they found a 54-year-old man dead lying on a bed, and a 53-year-old woman on the floor near the bed, Campbell said.
Dover Fire also responded and began life-saving measures immediately on the 53-year-old woman, who was transported to the Cleveland Clinic Mercy Hospital, where she later died, according to the department.
Campbell said that while there is still information to gather and evidence to process, preliminary information suggests that murder-suicide was most likely the cause based on evidence and witness statements given at the scene.
The Tuscarawas County Coroner's Office will determine the manner and cause of death for the man and will work with the Stark County Coroner's Office, which is responsible for determining the manner and cause of death for the woman, since she was pronounced dead in Stark County.
The sheriff's office says they will not release the names of the deceased until al of the family members are aware.
