In what Toledo police are describing as yet another case of deadly domestic violence, a 21-year-old man shot his 18-year-old girlfriend and then turned the gun on himself late Saturday night in their west-side apartment.

Caleb Loesch, of 4016 Eastway St., Apt. 4, died at 2:15 p.m. yesterday in Toledo Hospital.

Amanda Steinbrecher, also of the Eastway address, died at
5:35 p.m. in Toledo Hospital.

Authorities are treating the case as a murder-suicide. The Lucas County Coroner's Office will conduct autopsies.

Officers responded to the upstairs apartment about 9:15 p.m. Saturday and found Loesch and Miss Steinbrecher with gunshot wounds to the head.

Relatives of Loesch and Miss Steinbrecher could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Miss Steinbrecher was a student at Gibsonburg High School in Sandusky County and was listed on the first-quarter honor roll this school year, according to the high school's Web site.

Loesch was a 2004 graduate of Northview High School in Sylvania, where he was on the Merit Honor Roll his senior year, according to the Sylvania Board of Education Web site.

Loesch was charged in 2004 in Sylvania Municipal Court with domestic violence. Details of the case and its disposition were not available last night.

Rick Weber, 52, who lives across the hallway from the couple, said he was walking to a nearby convenience store when he heard a shot come from the couple's apartment and then saw three men run out of the unit.

"They almost knocked me down," Mr. Weber said. "They were partying all day. They were playing [loud] music. That's why I was a little ticked off, because I sleep in the daytime."

Sergeant Smith confirmed that police believe there were others in the apartment during the shooting, but said that the matter remained under investigation.

Mr. Weber said after the gunshot he talked with his neighbor downstairs and went to the store. He said by the time he returned, police officers had entered the apartment building to investigate.

Mr. Weber said the couple lived in the apartment for several months and fought all the time.

"I never saw her smile," Mr. Weber said. "I didn't talk to them that much. I'm in my 50s, so I don't deal with young people that well."

Dawn Strock, 33, who lives across the street from the apartment building, also said she had heard the two arguing before.

"They seemed to be nice, but they were just young," Miss Strock said.

"They would argue, but that seemed pretty typical for the most part. They would have a lot of friends come over. I saw Caleb [Saturday] walking his dog. We were at the Mud Hens game when [the shooting] happened."