Monday, December 12, 2011

Fort Wayne, IN: Bart Heller murder-suicide discovered on Facebook

FOR WAYNE, IN (CNN) -- An apparent murder-suicide involving teenagers in Indiana, may have been the result of a bad breakup.

Police say one of the victims took her friend to the shooter's house to pick up some items she'd left there. Their bodies were all found quickly after the shootings, and that's because a woman across the country happened to be on Facebook.

Nancy Lopez says, "I was just playing on my Facebook and through the news feed I seen he updated his status."

This Facebook post shows up on Bart Heller's page. It says, quote, "Someone call 911. Three dead bodies at 3229 Lima Road, Fort Wayne, Indiana. I've killed Ryann, Erin, and myself. People were warned not to play me and ruin me. They didn't listen. Sorry about your luck."

Nancy Lopez lives in Washington state but is Facebook friends with Heller. She saw the post. Lopez says, "I just kind of freaked out when I seen it and was thinking to myself is this true or fake. Well then I just called and looked up Fort Wayne police and told them what was going on, that a friend of mine on Facebook, his name and read them the post and they said the address was the same as they had listed for him."

Officers were dispatched out at 3:04, 18 minutes after the status update. When they arrived, they could see a man through the window not moving, they went inside.

Three people were pronounced dead at 3:19. Lopez says, "Emotionally just exhausting waiting to find out if it was a joke or was true. A detective called me and I asked him 'is this true or a joke' and they're like 'we can't release no information at this time' and then when I seen your guys web page and then I was sad to say it was true."

The coroner released the names of two people, 19-year-old Erin Jehl and 19-year-old Ryann Tipton. They were both shot, both deaths a homicide. An autopsy was also done on the third body, a man who officials say is the shooter. The coroner says he shot himself.

Lopez never met Heller, their Facebook interactions sporadic. Lopez says, "They were just more like 'hi, how are you?' that kind of type thing. We never talked serious."

She didn't know Erin or Ryann, but the whole situation shook her up. She says, "It took a lot of emotional toll, being way over here in Washington and not knowing if it was true."

The big question left is why, but that doesn't have an answer yet. Lopez says, "My prayers go out to all of them, all three families involved. I mean all three because they're all going through a hard time right now and hopefully in all their hearts in all the families they'll find forgiveness."

Police say Jehl and Tipton were likely just planning to be at the home for a short time, because their car was still running in the driveway when officers got there.

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