Two dead in apparent murder-suicide in Wayne, police say
"We believe there is no safety issue for the Radnor community," Lt. Christopher Flanagan said. "This is an isolated incident."
A man and a woman were found dead inside a Wayne home Wednesday night in what Radnor Township police are calling a murder-suicide.
The two individuals — a man in his 20s and a middle-age woman — had yet to be identified Thursday, but police said they believe they were relatives. They may have been dead for as long as a week.
While the police investigation had yet to be completed, Lt. Christopher Flanagan stressed residents should not be concerned for their safety.
"We believe there is no safety issue for the Radnor community," Flanagan said. "This is an isolated incident."
Around 10 p.m. Wednesday, Flanagan said, Radnor police received a call from a person who said no one had been seen at the house in about a week.
When police arrived in the 200 block of Highland Avenue, about a mile from downtown Wayne, they saw two cars parked at the home and mail piling up in the mailbox.
Officers entered and found the man and woman in the living room, dead from gunshot wounds, Flanagan said. Authorities believe the man shot the woman, then himself, according to Flanagan.
Multiple weapons, including handguns and rifles, were recovered from the residence, as were cellphones and other devices, Flanagan said. He declined to identify which weapon may have been used.
Two pets, a cat and a dog, were also recovered with the help of Animal Control, Flanagan said.
Police said they believe the woman lived at the home, but they were unsure whether the man was a resident as well.
Radnor police had been called to that address on Jan. 8 for a domestic-related call that did not result in any arrests, Flanagan said.
The Delaware County Coroner's Office was set to conduct autopsies in the coming days to determine the official cause and manner of death for both people.
Police did not release any other details Thursday, saying they did not want to risk compromising an active investigation.
Radnor authorities had not seen such a crime since a January 2014 murder-suicide in which a husband shot his wife and then himself, which orphaned three children, in the pool house of a home on South Wayne Avenue.