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ANDERSON, Ind. -- A man fatally shot his wife in the head while her children were nearby Wednesday, then engaged in a two-hour standoff with police at his Anderson home before surrendering, authorities said.
Investigators believe Michael Achenbach shot Cynthia Achenbach, 24, at about 12:30 p.m. at or near his house in the 2000 block of Charles Street on Anderson's southeast side, authorities said.
Someone called police, and officers found the woman's body in the driveway. She was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead, police said.
Police said relatives took the woman's two uninjured children -- one of whom is 1 year old -- from the property shortly after the shooting and before officers arrived. It wasn't clear how the relatives got access to the children or whether the relatives were there during the shooting.
Officers surrounded the house, in which Michael Achenbach stayed alone for two hours, armed with a shotgun, authorities said.
Police were able to talk to Michael Achenbach, and at about 2:55 p.m., he exited the house and lay down on the front lawn. Video from 6News' helicopter shows officers marching to the lawn and handcuffing him before leading him to a police car.
"He was on the line with our hostage negotiator right up until the point where he handcuffed him and put him under arrest," Anderson police Detective Joel Sandefur told 6News' Jennifer Carmack.
Information on the other child's age wasn't immediately available. Though police said the children were at the property when the shooting happened, their exact location at the time of the shooting wasn't clear.
The shooting came more than two months after Michael Achenbach was arrested on suspicion of cutting his wife at Mounds Mall during an argument over a cell phone.
He was charged with criminal confinement and battery in connection with the Feb. 8 incident and was awaiting a resolution to that case.
Achenbach was being held Wednesday evening in the Madison County jail on a murder charge, authorities said.
Video taken after the two hour stand off
http://www.theindychannel.com/news/15969512/detail.html#
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