SLIDELL, La. — Two men were discovered dead inside a Slidell home following an hours-long standoff with the St Tammany Sheriff’s Office and SWAT team Tuesday evening into the early hours Wednesday morning.
St Tammany Sheriff’s Office Investigator Lieutenant Larry Hudson says the department received a 911 call with an open line from a residence in the 300 block of Lake Village Boulevard at around 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
He says when responding officers arrived at the home reported in the call, they tried to make contact with a man at the home, but he then barricaded himself inside.
That is when the SWAT team was activated along with Sheriff’s Office negotiators who contacted the man inside.
Hudson says that that man then explained to negotiators that he and another man known to him exchanged gunfire inside the home.
Soon after, the SWAT team forced entry into the home and found both men dead inside. Hudson says one of the men appears to have suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The entire situation came to a tragic conclusion at about 6:20 a.m. Wednesday morning.
St. Tammany Parish Coroner Dr. Charles Preston has identified the two men killed in the apparent murder-suicide as Richard Sanderson, 48, of Mandeville, and Eric Costello, 67, of Slidell.
The coroner's office says Sanderson died of multiple gunshot wounds and the cause of death appears to be homicide. Costello died of a single gunshot wound and the cause of death appears to be suicide the coroner says.
The Coroner said Wednesday afternoon that Sanderson died of multiple gunshot wounds while Costello died of a single gunshot wound that appears to be suicide.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of everyone involved,” Sheriff Randy Smith said, “and I thank the deputies, SWAT team members, detectives, and crime scene technicians who worked throughout the night.”
Few details are available at this time as the investigation is ongoing.
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