An 83-year-old woman and her husband were found shot to death in her hospice room Tuesday in what authorities in Allentown, Pa., were investigating as a murder-suicide.

Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin said there were no witnesses to the incident at Lehigh Valley Hospital. He said the man, identified as Elwood Osman, shot his wife, Mildred, and then killed himself.

The shooting was confined to the room, and "no other patients or staff were placed in jeopardy," Martin said in a statement after the bodies were found about 1 p.m. ET. 

"Contrary to some rumors, this was not an active shooter situation," he said.

Chuck Lewis, senior vice president of Lehigh Valley Health Network, which operates the facility, confirmed that the dead woman was an inpatient in the hospice unit.

On its website, the hospital says patients can enter the hospice unit only with a diagnosis of a terminal illness and a life expectancy of six months or less. 

All of the rooms are private, meaning there wouldn't have been a second patient in the woman's room to have witnessed the incident.

"This is a very tragic event, and our hearts go out to the family of the deceased and our Lehigh Valley Health Network colleagues who were involved," Lewis said in a statement.

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This story was originally published on Tue Mar 19, 2013 3:58 PM EDT