TWO DEAD IN APPARENT MURDER-SUICIDE IN CARROLL CO.

(Hampstead, MD) – Maryland State Police are continuing to investigate a late morning shooting in Carroll County that left two men dead in what appears to be a murder-suicide.

One man found dead at the scene is tentatively identified as Zaidan S. “Steve” Asid, 51. Asid lived at the home where the shooting occurred, in the 1200-block of Allview Drive, Hampstead, Md.

The second man found dead at the scene is tentatively identified as Michael L. Swift, III, 45. Swift had an address in the 3600-block of Benson Ave., Halethorpe, Md.

Another person in the residence at the time of the shooting is identified as Hallie P. Swift, 44, who is apparently the former wife of Swift and currently the fiancé of Asid. Hallie Swift was living in the home where the shooting occurred.

Shortly after 11:00 a.m. today, the Carroll County Emergency Operations Center received a 911 call from a woman in the 1200-block of Allview Drive. She told the dispatcher that her ex-husband had just come into her home and shot her fiancé before shooting himself.

The Emergency Operations Center dispatcher notified Maryland State Police at the Westminster Barracks of the call and troopers immediately responded. When they arrived, they found a Saturn car in the driveway with its engine running and the two deceased males in the home. Hallie Swift was also found in the home and was taken for a medical examination. She was later determined to be uninjured. No one else was in the home at the time of the shooting.

The scene was secured and members of the Maryland State Police Homicide Unit responded to conduct the investigation. A search warrant was obtained and investigators, accompanied by State Police crime scene technicians, spent the afternoon and evening processing the scene.

The preliminary investigation indicates Michael Swift arrived at the home shortly after 11:00 a.m. in the Saturn, which is registered to his mother. He apparently gained access to the home through a sliding glass door at the back of the house which appears to have been shattered by a gunshot.

Both deceased men were found in a first floor family room at the rear of the house. A .12 gauge shotgun was still in the possession of Michael Swift. Both bodies have been transported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for autopsies.

The investigation is continuing.