A smoking vehicle in a college parking lot turned into a double homicide investigation in Oberlin on Wednesday morning, after police say they discovered two people shot to death inside a home while checking on the welfare of a suspect's family. A 64-year-old man and a 47-year-old woman were found with multiple gunshot wounds, and the sole suspect was taken into custody within about 90 minutes of the first call for help.
According to the City of Oberlin, officers responded at approximately 8:57 a.m. to the Oberlin College Conservatory lot at 77 E. College Street to help Oberlin Fire with a vehicle that was smoking and possibly on fire. The city said that call set off a chain of events it described as “believed to be of a domestic nature.” Police located the suspect in the 200 block of Shipherd Circle at approximately 10:19 a.m. and took him into custody without incident, the city said.
Roughly ten minutes later, at approximately 10:28 a.m., officers arrived at 33 South Pleasant Street to check on the welfare of the suspect's family. That is when, per the same city statement, they discovered two deceased victims inside the home. The city said the sole suspect had been detained and that there was no danger to the public.
Victims Found on Separate Floors of the Home
The man, 64, was found on the first floor of the residence, while the woman, 47, was found on the second floor, according to Fox 8, which reported that both victims suffered multiple gunshot wounds. Fox 8 reported that formal charges against the suspect remained pending.
Cleveland 19 identified the suspect as 31-year-old Daniel Jones. Fox 8 described the 31-year-old suspect as an Oregon man. Cleveland 19 also reported that Oberlin College and Conservatory identified the man found dead inside the home as Pipo Nguyen-Duy, described by the college as a longtime professor of studio art and photography. Cleveland 19's report did not identify the woman found on the second floor.
Scene Blocked Off as Investigation Continues
Both the Conservatory lot where the smoking vehicle was found and the South Pleasant Street residence were blocked off to traffic as police and Lorain County law enforcement processed the scenes, the city said. The homicide investigation remains active, and no additional details about a motive have been released beyond the city's characterization of the incident as domestic in nature.
The South Pleasant Street address sits in the same stretch of the city where a fatal shooting unfolded in November 2023. In that earlier case, Oberlin police arrested then-19-year-old Xavier Smith in the shooting death of 31-year-old Donte Noble of Lorain, according to Cleveland 19. Police said that shooting, in the 100 block of South Pleasant Street, began as an argument that escalated; Noble was found with a gunshot wound to the chest and later died at a hospital, and Smith was charged with murder and felonious assault.
No such charges have yet been confirmed in Wednesday's case. Oberlin police have said the sole suspect is in custody and the investigation is ongoing.
