ALLENTOWN, Pa. _ The two men found dead Monday in south Bethlehem were roommates and died in a murder-suicide, Police Chief Mark DiLuzio said.
Bethlehem police were initially dispatched at about 3:25 a.m. to check on the well being of 33-year-old John Schmook inside a home on Bayard Street and found him shot to death, DiLuzio said. The coroner's office ruled his death a homicide.
Schmook lived with a roommate, Sean Ferry, 30, but police said Ferry and his car were missing when they began the investigation.
Information obtained through the investigation led police to a building on West Third Street where they found Ferry dead in the hallway outside an apartment door. Northampton County Coroner Zach Lysek determined he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
While Bethlehem detectives and the coroner's office are continuing to investigate, DiLuzio said there is no immediate threat to the public and they are not looking for anyone connected to the two deaths.
Neighbors said one of the men worked at the Sands Casino.
A section of West Third Street between Cherokee and Wyandotte streets was closed for about an hour Monday as police investigated the second death scene.
Ferry had been sought by Bethlehem police during a manhunt that spilled from Lehigh University's Mountaintop campus to the South Side Historic District overnight, according to scanner reports.
Andreos Cabreras said he was shocked to learn someone may have been shot to death in the neighborhood.
"At first I thought it was a break-in or something, but there wouldn't be that many police cars," Cabreras said. "Then I saw the crime scene van."
Cabreras, whose family has lived on Bayard Street for eight years, said two young men lived in the home. He said they moved in a year or a year and a half ago. As he looked across Nicholas Street at the crime scene from his yard, he said his only interaction with them was to waive hello on occasion.
"It is pretty much a retirement area," Cabreras said. "We were one of the first young people to move here. Nothing bad happens down here."
Cabreras said he occasionally would see the men had visitors, but nothing unusual.
