Husband and Wife — Both Officers — Found Shot to Death

Both suffered gunshot wounds to the body, according to authorities

A husband and wife were found fatally shot inside a home in Chicago's Garfield Ridge neighborhood Sunday in what police are investigating as a murder-suicide, officials said.

The two were found unresponsive just after 5 a.m. Sunday inside a home in the the 5300 block of South Austin Avenue, said Chicago Police News Affairs Officer Jose Estrada.

Both suffered gunshot wounds to the body, according to authorities.

The Cook County Sheriff's office said the man found dead was 50-year-old Javier Acevedo, a Cook County Department of Corrections officer who worked at the Cook County Jail.

Acevedo lived in the home with his wife Veronica, a Chicago police officer, and their teenage daughter.

"It brings tears to my eyes because they were nice people," said neighbor Dianne Roberts.

Cook County Sheriff's spokesman Ben Breit said the incident is being investigated by police as a murder-suicide.

Investigators believe Acevedo, a 25-year veteran of the force, shot his wife before turning the gun on himself.

Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy released the following statement on the death of Veronica Rizzo-Acevedo:

"Officer Veronica Rizzo-Acevedo's death earlier today in a domestic murder-suicide is an awful tragedy for her family, her friends, her colleagues in the Chicago Police Department, and the people of this city, whom she served admirably for nearly two decades."

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart tweeted the sheriff's office "has experienced a tremendous tragedy."

Neighbors said the family had only lived on the block for a few years and were members at nearby St. Jane de Chantal Roman Catholic Church.

"Something obviously snapped," said Edward Cronin, a priest at St. Jane de Chantal Roman Catholic Church who knew the Acevedos. "He was carrying much more than anybody knew."

Further details on the incident were not immediately available. Area Central detectives are investigating.

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