STEPHANIE KLEIN-DAVIS The Roanoke Times

. A man cycles past the home of Jeffrey Horn on Friday on Holmes Street.

The last time Laura Goad saw Donna Dudley at her neighbor's house was Thursday afternoon, when Dudley was sitting in the passenger seat of her car, upset and arguing with someone on her cellphone.

Hours later, police found Dudley dead inside the house.

Goad's neighbor and Dudley's one-time boyfriend, Jeffrey Douglas Horn, shot the 43-year-old woman, Roanoke police spokeswoman Aisha Johnson said. Police were not sure of the status of Horn's relationship with Dudley at the time of the shooting.

Later that evening, he shot and killed himself during a standoff with police, Johnson said. Horn was 44.

Neighbors said that Horn and Dudley had split up, and that she had come to collect her belongings. They didn't know why Horn killed Dudley and then himself. Police did not comment on a motive.

The standoff rattled longtime residents and on Friday was still drawing curious onlookers who were driving slowly by Horn's modest, single-story brick house in the 4300 block of Holmes Street Northeast.

"It's a fairly quiet neighborhood," Goad said Friday from her front porch.

Police were called at 5:34 p.m. to check on Horn, Johnson said.

An employee at Lewis-Gale Clinic had received a suspicious message from Horn and called 911, she said. Lewis-Gale spokeswoman Nancy May referred all questions about the message to police. Johnson said Friday she could not discuss why Horn called the clinic, who he called or what the nature of Horn's message was.

When officers arrived, Horn refused to come out of his house, Johnson said.

The tactical response team assembled, and a negotiator spoke with Horn by phone, she said, and was trying to confirm if someone else was inside the house. Police now believe that Dudley was dead before they arrived, Johnson said.

Horn stopped communicating with police at 6:57 p.m., and officers heard one gunshot. The tactical response team entered the house, but police would not say whether they had to force their way in or not.

Inside the house, they discovered Horn's and Dudley's bodies. Johnson said they were still determining the times of death for both victims.

Dudley's friends described her as a friendly person.

"A real outgoing young lady," said Dave Mullins, who worked with her at the Buchanan Texaco gas station that she had managed for years.

Dudley was full of energy and popular with her customers, another friend said.

"Everything was 'honey' or 'sweetie,' " said Debie Painter, who owns the North Star Restaurant near the Texaco.

"She was so nice to customers."

Painter described Dudley as a petite brunette who had a tan year-round.

She bought a house last year off Springwood Road in Buchanan and had been making some minor repairs to it, Painter said.

Horn's mother, Doris Horn, said Friday she was mourning the loss of her eldest son.

"He was a sweet, loving person," she said.

Horn had a son whom he loved dearly, Doris Horn said.

"His son was his number one priority," she said.

Winston Sink, who lives across the street from Jeffrey Horn, said that when Horn bought a new green Jimmy GMC, he kept his old car to give to his son.

Horn bought his house on Holmes Street in 1994, and since then he and Sink had talked frequently.

Horn's favorite topic, Sink said, was women.

"He was a ladies' man, according to him," the 68-year-old said. "He was always telling stories."

Staff writer Neil Harvey contributed to this report.