Lakewood police investigating fatal shooting, man says he accidentally shot wife

Neighbors at a Lakewood apartment complex called 911 after they heard a gunshot Thursday and a man told them he accidentally shot his wife, Lakewood police said.

Police arrived to find the 19-year-old woman dead from gunshot injuries, police spokesman Chris Lawler said.

Officials did not release her name, pending notification of family.

Officers found the woman about 6 p.m. at the couple’s apartment in the 8500 block of 82nd Street Southwest.

The man, 20, was being interviewed by police.

He reportedly told one neighbor that he had been cleaning his rifle, when it accidentally fired, killing his wife, Lawler said.

Witnesses said they heard one gunshot, according to police.

The man went into the hallway after the gun fired, where neighbors found him distraught, and called police, Lawler said.

Police have no reports of domestic violence between the couple, and management at the apartment hadn’t reported any trouble with the pair, who lived at the complex with their two dogs, Lawler said.

Mike Morphis lives at the apartments, the Beaumont Grand, with his wife and their Chihuahua Pug. He hadn’t heard about the shooting Thursday, a few buildings down from his.

He’s lived there for about two years, and said management has been good at dealing with any issues that arise.

“I keep an eye out, if something’s not right,” he said. “This (place) has been pleasant.”

The Beaumont apartments are about two blocks from an officer-involved shooting that happened Wednesday night at the Morning Tree Park apartments, where a man shot by police suffered injuries that were not life-threatening.

This story was originally published October 16, 2014 at 7:13 PM with the headline "Lakewood police investigating fatal shooting, man says he accidentally shot wife."