Couple dead in shooting
EAST BUTLER — A man and woman were found dead this morning inside a Grant Avenue Extension home in what appears to be a murder-suicide, authorities said.
Thomas Raimondi and a woman presumed to be his wife both suffered gunshot wounds. Friends identified Debbie Raimondi as Thomas' wife.
State police are investigating the case but would not immediately comment.
Raimondi's body was found in the basement, and the woman's body was on the main floor of the small bungalow at 609 Grant Ave. Extension, according to authorities.
Butler County Deputy Coroner Dennis Trzeciak pronounced the couple dead at 9:05 a.m. Investigators did not immediately rule on the causes of deaths.
Trzeciak did not know if or when autopsies would be conducted.
It was not immediately known if police recovered the gun believed to have been used in the shooting. Authorities said the home appeared to be orderly and well kept.
Police and East Butler Ambulance got the call just before 8 a.m. The initial call came in as shots fired, and then a second call reported one person suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Soon after, however, another call signaled two shooting victims.
Friends and neighbors of the couple and onlookers showed up on a hillside overlooking the house. Neighbors contacted this morning did not report hearing any gunshots.
Grant Avenue Extension, the main thoroughfare through the borough, was blocked off by more than six cruisers and even more unmarked police cars.
Criminal investigators and forensic officers bustled in and out of the house, where a motorcycle and a pair of metal benches were on the front porch
A plastic snowman decoration leaned on one side of the house just off the porch. A dog barked and seemed to pace anxiously in the home's backyard.
Two boats and a pickup truck took up much of the stone driveway at the house.
