Newly-released body camera footage shows a Columbus officer arriving at the wrong home, following a welfare check call regarding Spencer Tepe and his wife Monique, who were later found fatally shot.
On Thursday, Columbus, Ohio, Police Chief Elaine Bryant confirmed that an officer had been dispatched to a residence on North 4th Street, on December 30 at around 9 a.m., according to WBNS 10.
Bryant stated, “The officer did everything that he was supposed to do,” adding that the officer followed proper protocol despite going to a wrong address.
During the welfare check, the officer went to a residence on Summit Street, which is “several streets away” from the Tepe couple’s residence, according to The Columbus Dispatch.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, police later found the couple deceased after a family friend went to the home and found them both with gunshot wounds. Their two children ages 4 and 1, were found unharmed.
The friend reportedly said that he arrived to the home around 40 minutes after the welfare check call. Loved ones became concerned after Spencer, a dentist, failed to show up for work.
Bryant said the couple is believed to have been shot hours before the initial call.
In the body video footage, the officer is seen knocking on the front door at the Summit Street residence, and asking several times, “Anyone home?”
The office checked around the property, and left after receiving no response.
Bryant confirmed that “approximately 40 minutes later, we received another call,” from one of Tepe’s co-workers.
“They had not reported to work, and they were really concerned, so they went to the house, and that’s when the bodies of the two victims were found,” Bryant said.
According to The Columbus Dispatch, police said there were no indications of a murder-suicide, no signs of forced entry, and no weapons were found.
Police released a video of a “person of interest” in the murders, but no arrests have been made.
Investigators said they believe someone gunned down the couple between 2 and 5 a.m. that morning, in the upstairs area of the home.
The video showed a person in jeans and a dark hoodie walking in the alley near the Tepe home, “during that time frame,” according to FOX News Digital.
Bryant stated that law enforcement “is working very diligently to try to solve it.”
“We know that people are concerned, and we know that people have a lot of questions.”
Anyone with information should call Columbus Police Homicide Unit at 614-645-4730 or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-TIPS (8477).
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[Feature Photo: Monique and Spencer Tepe/Athens Dental Depot]
