Neighbors, community reacts to Elkhart County double shooting, house fire 

ELKHART COUNTY, Ind. — A connected double shooting and house fire that left two people dead in Elkhart County Monday has left neighbors and the broader community reeling.

Many neighbors on Golden Pond Trail sharing photos and videos with ABC57 showing the active fire and SWAT situation as it unfolded.

They say this was a very unusual event for their typically quiet neighborhood.

"I thought it was just a basic fire and I went back inside, then I had some Elkhart Police, Sheriff's Department, and SWAT team vehicles park in front of, down my cul-de-sac, then when I went out and looked I saw the SWAT team approaching the house,” says Robert Cozzie, a neighbor in the subdivision.

"At 2:36 I was upstairs closing the windows because it was raining and I see all of the emergency vehicles and I'm like there's something going on, it's not just a house fire,” recalls a neighbor on Golden Pond Trail, Emily Marchand.

It turns out the Elkhart County SWAT Team and police were looking for a suspect in a double shooting that happened shortly before, and just a ten-minute drive away on Links Drive in the Highlands Apartments complex.

That suspect, identified Tuesday as 41-year-old Adonis Joseph, was found dead inside the home after the fire was extinguished, with a gunshot wound to the head.

Neighbors commented on the house that was, until Tuesday, recently listed for sale.

"I know that it was bought about a year ago and people had moved in, but they moved out and the house was back up for sale about two months ago,” Cozzie explains.

"I had just seen them, a younger couple, younger kids, little girls,” says Marchand.

A 30-year-old unidentified woman was shot and is still recovering from her injuries in the shooting on Links Drive, but 38-year-old Kaylon Woods of South Bend was killed.

Tributes pouring out on social media for Tuesday, affectionately known as Kay, who was a beloved member of the South Bend community, particularly in the fitness space as a yoga instructor.

Both SoulFire Yoga and Drip Infrared, two local yoga studios, posted about the loss.

ABC57 is told a tribute yoga session is in the works to honor Kay and raise funds for his family as they navigate this dark time.

The South Bend Police Department confirms that Joseph was a former officer there from 2011-2018.

In late 2017, he was relieved of duty after the department’s internal affairs initiated an investigation regarding allegations involving Joseph.

He later resigned from the department in early 2018.