Man dies after being shot in Merrillville home

A man has been charged with fatally shooting someone he lived with Wednesday inside their home in Merrillville, Indiana.

Kafele Laurence Ward-Brown, 20, is charged with a felony count of murder for the shooting of Dennis Montez Ward, according to a statement from Merrillville police.

Officers were called at 4:47 a.m. for reports of a gunshot victim in the 7500 block of Hendricks Street, Merrillville Police Chief Joseph Petruch said.

Ward-Brown shot Ward inside their house, police and the Lake County coroner’s office said. Officers arrived to find Ward outside the home after he climbed out a window after being shot.

He was taken to Methodist Hospital Southlake Campus, where he was pronounced dead at 5:59 a.m., the coroner’s office said. His death was ruled a homicide.

A SWAT team was called because police believed the shooter may have still been in the house, according to Petruch. The gunman was no longer inside when officers searched the home.

Officers found children inside the house, but no other injuries were reported.

Ward-Brown turned himself in to authorities a short time later at the Merrillville Police Department, Petruch said. He is being held at the Lake County Jail.

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