MEADVILLE -- Police searched for a motive Wednesday in an early morning shooting that claimed the lives of a Meadville woman and an off-duty Conneaut Lake police officer.
The officer, 26-year-old Michael D. Trout, of the 900 block of Beechwood Drive in Meadville, shot 31-year-old Nobilee R. Forro at point-blank range inside her apartment at 6501/2 Baldwin St., then turned the gun on himself, investigators said.
Trout was still alive when Meadville police officers reached the apartment at about 3:20 a.m. Wednesday, Police Chief David Stefanucci said. He was rushed by Meadville Area Ambulance Service to Meadville Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, Crawford County Chief Deputy Coroner Scott Schell said.
Schell pronounced Forro dead at the scene.
At least three shots were fired in the incident, according to investigators. Two children who were also inside the apartment were not injured.
No one witnessed the shooting, Stefanucci said.
Police determined that there was a domestic dispute between Forro and Trout that preceded the shooting, Stefanucci said. There was no other history of domestic incidents involving the couple, that police knew of, before Wednesday morning, he said.
Officers were dispatched to the apartment at 3:18 a.m. when neighbors heard gunshots and thought that someone was outside shooting into the apartment, Stefanucci said.
When officers arrived, they found the glass broken on the apartment's front entry door. Forro was found dead inside the apartment. Officers heard movement and discovered Trout, who had a gunshot wound to the head, lying around a corner about eight feet from Forro's body, Stefanucci said.
As buses came to pick up schoolchildren Wednesday morning, a number of people in the Baldwin Street neighborhood stood on their porches or sidewalks, watching as investigators from the Meadville Police Department and the Pennsylvania State Police appeared to search the entryway of the apartment building, which was surrounded by yellow caution tape.
Ricky Gilson was eating breakfast next door on his front porch.
"It's a shock," he said. "I know that."
Meadville police wrapped up their investigation at the apartment by midmorning and released the two-story, tan-sided house back to its owner, Stefanucci said.
The shootings took place just a few doors away from where Michael Trout's older brother, Nathan Trout, lives with his fiancee, Tiffany Peeples.
Peeples said Wednesday morning that Michael Trout had visited their apartment a couple nights earlier.
"There was no sign of any problem," she said. "He said he was still dating and that things were going good."
That same night, she said, Nathan Trout had asked his brother to be the best man at their wedding, planned for Sept. 21, 2012.
Peeples said her fiance was devastated by the news.
"Mike was his only brother," she said.
Peeples, who had previously lived in the same apartment where the shooting took place, said she woke up Wednesday morning to find the residential neighborhood filled with police cars.
"Someone said they saw someone taken out in a body bag," she said.
News of what had happened came as a shock, Peeples said, explaining that Michael Trout, who enjoyed cars and worked part time at Auto Zone, had never shown any violent tendencies.
"I can't even fathom him doing this," she said. "His parents can't even fathom it, either. This isn't the Mike we knew. He had a lot going for him. He is a police officer. He had been dating for four months, and it seemed to be going good. He never said anything about any problems."
Trout was hired by the Conneaut Lake Regional Police Department on May 19 and began work on June 1, Police Chief Todd Pfeifer said.
Pfeifer said he plans to make a counselor available to any member of his department who needs to speak to someone about the incident.
Meadville police said they are still looking for information about the incident. Anyone with information is asked to call the department at (814) 724-6100.
TIM HAHN can be reached at 870-1731 or by e-mail.
JIM MARTIN can be reached at 870-1668 or jim.martin@timesnews.com.
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