By AZFamily Digital News Staff
Published: May. 17, 2024 at 12:40 PM MST|Updated: May. 18, 2024 at 10:19 PM MST
SURPRISE, AZ (AZFamily) — Surprise police have identified the suspect involved in a standoff with authorities that left a 6-month-old baby hospitalized and a home destroyed on Friday.
On Saturday, Surprise police say 51-year-old Todd Christopher Marchetti was involved in Friday’s hostage situation. His remains were later found in the home, which caught fire after an hours-long standoff.
Police say it appeared he shot himself in the head. The cause of death is still pending the results of a medical examiner’s report.
The baby boy, who was shot multiple times, remains in the hospital in critical but stable condition, according to police.
Surprise Police Sgt. Rick Hernandez said it all started when Marchetti broke into the home in the area of Cotton Lane and Cactus Road around 3 a.m. and held the woman and the baby hostage. Police say the woman and baby lived at the home, but Marchetti, the father of the child, did not.
Somehow, she escaped around 11:30 a.m. and went to a construction crew nearby and told them what happened, Hernandez said. They called 911.
Marchetti and the baby were still inside the home when the police arrived.
While at the scene, officers heard gunshots. One Surprise Police officer responded by firing a gun toward the house where Marchetti was.
Other officers forced their way into the home and found the baby shot multiple times, Hernandez said.
Police said they didn’t see or talk to Marchetti but rescued the child from inside the house.
The baby boy was flown to a nearby hospital in serious condition, but police said the victim should survive. He underwent surgery for injuries to his lower body on Friday afternoon.
The woman was treated on scene for only minor injuries and then was taken to the hospital to be with her child, Hernandez said.
“When a call came in to 911 our officers were ready to put themselves in that line of fire that in the danger for the betterment of that young child. Right now, that child is clinging to life, that child is in surgery, that child to has an opportunity to recover and that is what our officers are focused on right now is that we provided that child the opportunity to recover,” said Hernandez.
Arizona’s Family news chopper arrived over the scene and spotted armored SWAT trucks at a home. The home’s garage and windows were destroyed as armed police surrounded the home.
Police say Marchetti refused to come out of the home and peacefully surrender to police.
Around 3 p.m., the house caught fire with Marchetti still inside. Video from the scene showed how the fire erupted and tore through the home.
“Next thing you know, there was smoke. And after the smoke, there’s a huge ball of fire coming from the back of the house and it just spread from the back all the way to the front,” said Hector Holguin, Arizona’s Family drone operator, who was on the scene when the fire started. “It just progressed. It collapsed the roof.”
Because Marchetti might still have been in the home, firefighters couldn’t get too close to the flames, which delayed their response. They also heard gunfire coming from inside the house, Hernandez said.
“Firefighters don’t wear bulletproof vests. Firefighters don’t have weapons so they are vulnerable on these kinds of situations so it’s imperative that law enforcement stabilize that scene in such a way that it’s safe to address the fire,” said Andy Anderson, a former assistant Phoenix Police chief.
Firefighters used two ladder trucks to spray the house with water and water down the house next door to keep the flames from spreading.
By 4:30 p.m., the fire appeared to have been put out, but firefighters were still mopping up hot spots. The cause of the fire is under investigation, Hernandez said.
Neighbors in the new-build community say they are shocked and horrified by what happened. Multiple neighbors who spoke with Arizona’s Family off camera say they’ve passed that house several times and have never noticed anything out of the ordinary.
Deidre Baumann was in town visiting a friend who live directly across the street and was stuck in the home all day and night while everything played out.
“We were standing to the side of the windows or down to the floor because easily a bullet could have traveled through the window watching much of what occurred. The worst part of it was we knew that there was a mother and baby who lived across the street. According to my friend, mother always had baby on her hip,” said Baumann. “It’s very difficult to understand how something like this can happen. How a father can shoot at a six-month year-old baby. That is beyond evil and it’s hard to process to think what the mother must be going through now.”
Neighbors who are affected are asked to call the Surprise Police Department’s non-emergency number at 623-222-4000.
A GoFundMe has been made to help the mother and baby as they recover during this time. If you would like to donate, click/tap here.
There are resources available for domestic violence survivors. For more information, click/tap here.
This is the 27th officer-involved shooting in Maricopa County and the 40th officer-involved shooting in the state.
It’s the second police shooting in two days.
Phoenix officers were involved in a shootout on Thursday with a homicide suspect near 26th Avenue and Cactus Road. No officers were hurt, and the suspect died at the hospital.
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