The Vermillion Police Department released an account of exactly what happened inside the Vermillion home, which led to a standoff on Christmas morning and ended in the suicide of a 42 year-old man.
While the identity of the man is not being released, we do have a better idea of what happened that morning.
According to Vermillion police, at about 1 a.m. on Christmas morning an off-duty police officer was awakened by a woman in his home; claiming her husband had assaulted her and held her against her will for several hours, threatened to kill her and destroyed her cell phone to stop her from contacting authorities.
While the off-duty officer proceeded to call for assistance, a witness saw the woman's husband make multiple trips to the couple's garage. That's where the man was known to keep several firearms.
Once the police department arrived, they set up a safety perimeter and made contact with the husband over the phone. They also alerted neighbors of the incident.
The man told police he intended to kill himself or force police officers to kill him.
During this time, the couple's two children were still in the home with the husband.
The man initially refused to release the two children, but around 4:30 a.m. he allowed them to leave, being escorted by their neighbor, the off-duty officer.
Around 10:20 a.m., communication with the man had stopped and perimeter officers heard a gun shot from within the house.
At about 1:30 Tuesday afternoon police found the man dead inside the residence, from what they believe was a self inflicted gunshot.
The Vermillion Police Department, Clay County's Sheriff's office and the Department of Criminal Investigations are all still actively investigating the case.
The two children of the couple were reunited with their mother. She has been treated for the injuries she sustained while being held captive in the home.
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