9-year-old daughter calls police as dad assaults mom while holding rifle; parents in process of getting divorce (Sterling Heights, Michigan)

Once again, we see that separation/divorce is the most dangerous time for women and children leaving an abuser.

This guy had a history of domestic violence, so the police knew what he was like. This mother and child should have been STRONGLY advised not to meet with the father or have any contact with him. But that apparently didn't happen.

Notice that the reporter tries the Clueless Neighbor narrative, but it doesn't work. At least one neighbor knew this guy had a thing for guns and a few loose screws in his head. So why even go into the whole "seemed like a nice guy" thing? This was not "surprising" or "out of the blue." It was a totally predictable outcome.

This could have resulted in the slaughter of the mother and child. Instead, moron dad pointed his gun at the cops. So he was shot dead. So we've managed to reduce the population of abusers by one. Yay?

Dad is identified as JOHN KAPELUCH.

http://www.macombdaily.com/general-news/20140621/update-man-shot-by-sterling-heights-police-assaulted-wife-carried-rifle-chief-says

UPDATE: Man shot by Sterling Heights police assaulted wife, carried rifle, chief says

By Norb Franz, The Macomb Daily

Posted: 06/21/14, 11:33 AM EDT | Updated: 16 secs ago

A 54-year-old man shot fatally by police in his Sterling Heights home Saturday was spotted moments earlier by officers assaulting his estranged wife while holding a rifle,

Police Chief Michael Reese said. Police went to the home at 37692 Lola Drive, near Dodge Park Road and Metropolitan Parkway, at approximately 6:50 a.m. after the couple’s daughter dialed 911 to report an assault between her mother and father.

Officers announced their presence and entered the home.

“The husband was standing over the wife with the rifle pointed at her,” said Reese, adding that police ordered the man to put down the rifle.

“He spun around, pointed the rifle at an officer and the officer fired,” the chief said.

The wounded man was transported by Universal Macomb Ambulance to Henry Ford Macomb Hospital in Clinton Township, where doctors pronounced him dead.

The woman did not appear to be injured. The couple’s 9-year-old daughter, who made the emergency call, was in another room of the ranch-style home at the time of the gunfire and was not hurt.

Reese said the couple was going through a divorce and that the woman and daughter had recently moved out. They came to the house at approximately 6:45 a.m. to handle some family matters.

Reese said he did not know what caused their differences to turn violent Saturday. Police have been summoned to the home before for minor domestic matters, he said.

Officials did not immediately release the couple’s names. However, neighbors, city property tax data and Macomb County Circuit Court records identify the couple as John and Jill Kapeluch.

Court records show Mrs. Kapeluch filed for divorce June 6. Her husband was served with papers on June 12.

Neighbors along the quiet block of well-kept, ranch homes with neatly manicured landscaping said the couple was quiet while residing over 15 years residing on Lola, keeping to themselves and rarely seen outside in recent weeks.

“I’m so shocked right now. I’m so sorry to hear this,” said Diana Petruzzello, who lives across the street, when told by a reporter that the dispute ended with the man’s death. “It’s so sad. I pray for the wife and daughter.”

Although Reese said police have responded to the home twice before, neighbors interviewed by The Macomb Daily said they witnessed no strife. “We knew (he) had his problems but they seemed fine” as husband and wife, said Robert Guzik while he and his wife, Mary, watched crime scene technicians go in and out of the beige house next door will making a regular visit to Robert’s mother.

“He was pretty reclusive,” Mary Guzik added. Neighbor John Boesl described the couple as “secretive.”

“It’s just too bad it had to happen,” he said of the shooting.

“We assumed something was going on when she moved out” two weeks ago, he said.

Boesl said he saw the woman arrive at the house at approximately 6:30 p.m. Friday, go inside and then leave about two minutes later.

Boesl recalled how he was taken aback by the husband’s own introduction after Boesl and his wife, Pauline, moved in eight years ago.

“He said, ‘Joe, I’m the bad ass of the neighborhood,” Boesl said. “Also, ‘I have a gun in the house.’”

Neighbors said the couple’s two dogs barked frequently, and Boesl said the man used to sternly tell people walking unleashed dogs in Imus Park – directly behind his home – to not let their pets roam loose.

The investigation of the Saturday’s shooting was turned over to Michigan State Police. That is a common procedure following fatal shootings involving municipal police agencies.

Overseen by a command officer, State Police remained at the scene for hours, conducting measurements and examining the shooting scene.

Reese, the Sterling Heights police chief, declined to identify the officer who shot and killed the 54-year-old. The officer has been placed on administrative leave, also routine practice following the use of force that results in death.

With the investigation continuing, Reese did not reveal how many shots were fired by police and how many times the fatally injured man was struck.