CUMBERLAND, Indiana — Cumberland police are conducting a homicide investigation after a man was found dead in an apartment Monday evening.
Police responded to a report of a possible person shot in the 11500 block of Taftwood Drive, near East Washington Street and North German Church Road, shortly before 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 25.
Officers arrived and found a man who had been shot. Medics pronounced him dead at the scene.
The Marion County Coroner's Office identified the deceased as 35-year-old Tyrone Word, Jr., of Indianapolis.
Investigators learned Word did not live at the apartment where he was found dead.
According to an arrest report, the 35-year-old man who leases the apartment called 911 and said Word was unresponsive in his apartment with a gun lying next to him.
(NOTE: 13News does not name suspects until charges are filed by prosecutors.)
The arrest report says the suspect's mother then called 911 to report that her son called her and told her that Word shot himself in her son's apartment.
Detectives arrived to the apartment and determined, through training and experience, that Word's death was likely not a suicide.
Later that evening, detectives spoke with the suspect again on the phone, who allegedly told them he was not coming back to the scene and that he doesn't own a gun.
Detectives said the suspect was uncooperative on the phone, allegedly telling the detective to "stop playing with me, dude" and the detective would have to work overtime to find him.
A short time later, officers saw a man nearby at a gas station who matched the suspect's description. They detained him for questioning, but police said he continued to be uncooperative when he was taken to the police station for questioning and at the hospital for evaluation.
According to the arrest report, detectives spoke with Word's brother, who said he was FaceTiming with Word during the incident. The brother said he put his phone down while they were FaceTiming because he was doing different things and after a few minutes, Word's brother said the camera on Word's phone was showing the ceiling, and he heard a male voice say, "Look what you made me do."
Police arrested the suspect on a preliminary murder charge.
According to online court records, the suspect has previous, unrelated convictions for battery with bodily injury to a pregnant woman, intimidation and domestic battery.
The Marion County Prosecutor's Office will make the final charging decisions.
Anyone with additional information on the incident is asked to call Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 317-262-8477.
Cumberland is roughly 15 miles east of downtown Indianapolis.