D.A. Says Money Dispute Led To Deadly Shooting, Standoff In Swansea
SWANSEA, Mass. (AP) — A man killed someone who had come to his home to collect a debt on Sunday night, then went inside his house and took his own life, a dispute the victim's brother ascribed to a car restoration project.
Police responded to a home in Swansea at about 6 p.m. Sunday after neighbors reported hearing gunfire, according to a statement from Bristol District Attorney C. Samuel Sutter's office.
When they arrived, officers found Mitchell Stevenson, 37, of Tiverton, R.I., dead inside a car.
The shooter then went into his home, and almost immediately another gunshot was heard.
Local and state police secured the area, and several hours later entered the home to find Christian Wilson, 43, dead of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound. No one else was inside the house.
The two men knew each other and Stevenson drove to Wilson's home to collect money, authorities said.
Investigators didn't disclose the nature of Wilson's debt, but the victim's brother McKenzie Stevenson told The Herald News of Fall River that Wilson owed his brother for assistance with the restoration of a 1965 Chevrolet Impala.
"It is believed that an argument ensued between the parties at which point Mr. Wilson brandished a firearm and fired multiple shots at close range, striking Mr. Stevenson, who was seated in his motor vehicle," authorities said.
Wilson had a valid firearms license, police said.
Mitchell Stevenson leaves behind a wife and daughter, his brother said.
The deaths remain under investigation.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.
