A 6-month-old infant was shot multiple times and a woman was held hostage in Arizona on Friday by a man believed to be the child's father, before police intervened to rescue the infant and ultimately discovered the man dead inside the home.
Arizona police officers rushed into a home in Surprise on Friday to rescue a 6-month-old infant who had been shot multiple times during a hostage situation involving the child's suspected father.
According to the Surprise Police Department, the suspect, 51-year-old Todd Christopher Marchetti, broke into the home at around 3 a.m. and refused to allow the mother and her baby to leave. Linda Ogle, a friend of the mother, told AZFamily that the victim had moved back in with her parents to escape Marchetti's alleged abuse. Ogle claimed that Marchetti had planned to torture the victim while her parents were out of town.
"He used an ax to get through one of the windows," Ogle told the station. "He brought duct tape and ropes and different forms of pliers and a couple different butcher knives."
Around 11:30 a.m., the mother managed to escape and sought help from a nearby construction crew. Officers arrived at the scene shortly after receiving a 911 call from the crew.
Upon arrival, police officers heard gunfire coming from inside the home. One officer fired a round toward the suspect while other officers entered the house to rescue the infant.
The infant was found with multiple gunshot wounds and was transported to a local hospital in critical but stable condition. The mother sustained minor injuries and was treated at the scene.
SWAT teams responded and began a lengthy negotiation with Marchetti, who had barricaded himself inside the home.
During negotiations, a fire broke out inside the house around 3 p.m. It is unclear how the fire started.
SWAT teams attempted to negotiate with Marchetti, who refused to surrender peacefully.
Investigators entered the home when it was deemed safe and found Marchetti deceased from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
Marchetti's body was discovered after the fire was extinguished.
Police said Marchetti's cause of death is pending the results of a medical examiner's report.
