5 dead, including gunman, after standoff in Washington state
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Mason County Sheriff’s Chief Criminal Deputy Russ Osterhout looks down a road near the scene of a fatal shooting Friday, Feb. 26, 2016, near Belfair, Wash.
BELFAIR, Wash. » A gunman who killed four people in rural Washington state called an officer he previously encountered to say he shot his family, leading to an hourslong standoff at a home today that ended with his suicide, authorities said.
A 12-year-old girl related to the victims survived and was taken to the hospital for an evaluation, Mason County sheriff’s Chief Deputy Ryan Spurling said. Her condition was not immediately known.
The officer who took the shooter’s call went to the home across Puget Sound from Seattle with another deputy. Authorities negotiated with the man for about three hours before a SWAT team entered the house in a heavily wooded area and found the bodies.
The gunman “apparently came outside the home and shot himself,” Sheriff Casey Salisbury said. “It’s a terrible tragedy.”
Neither the gunman nor his four victims have been identified. Authorities did not detail the previous interaction between the shooter and the officer he called.
Jack Pigott, who lives down the road, said he heard gunshots Thursday night but none Friday.
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The couple who lived in the house about 25 miles southwest of Seattle were in their 40s and had been married for four or five years, Pigott said. The wife had two teenage sons who were adopted from Russia during a previous marriage. She also had a daughter who was adopted from China.
Pigott said the husband had a heating and air conditioning contractor business. He had recently been hospitalized, Pigott said, but he didn’t know why. When he returned home, he was on a lot of medications, Pigott said of the man.
It was common for the family to do shooting practice, Pigott said, and that’s what he thought of when he heard the gunfire.
“I was getting a load of wood into the house, and I hear some gunshots,” he said. “Four or five, a pause and then another round.”
Residents know each other in the area that has homes with large lots with room for horses, Pigott said.
The SWAT team went in around 12:30 p.m., Spurling said. Officers said they had 11 buildings to clear on the property but reported they had found the bodies shortly after entering the first building.
The shooting comes days after a 26-year-old man shot and killed his parents and two younger sisters before taking his own life at the family’s home in Phoenix.
18 responses to “5 dead, including gunman, after standoff in Washington state”
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so much violence, way too many guns out there
Too many nuts you mean. The gun was only the tool used. If they had used a car or a can of gas to do the same thing, would you be saying ban all cars or quit selling gas?
It is way too easy to kill people with guns and people are way too unstable for them to be safe.
1. You can run from a fire.
2. You can’t sneak your Taurus into a movie theater or a classroom.
3. Gas cans do not discharge if toddlers find them in mommy’s purse.
4. Neither of the “tools” you mentioned are things that make losers feel powerful.
Ban them? No. Let everybody have one? Hell no.
TigerEye, do you own a gun?? Based on the randomness and irrationality of your reply, I certainly hope you don’t. If you do own one, throw it in the Ala Wai canal NOW before you hurt someone with it.
Random and irrational better describe someone who suggests that cars and gas cans are the same as firearms. Add ignorant and uneducated to the mix and you get someone who tries to argue that calling out someone for dingbatted comparisons is being random and irrational.
If you own a firearm I’ve a suggestion or two on what you can use as a CC holster.
Everyone in North Dakota owns a gun, allie. You must be shooting blanks?
You are wrestling with major ignorance about North Dakota. You describe rural whites and not much more. No, I never owned a gun. My faith is in the Lord.
Guns alone can’t hurt anyone. Crazy! Someone has to pull the trigger to fire a shot as far as I know.
This unscheduled population reduction brought to you by the National Rifle Association, an organization FORMERLY focused on gun safety.
Safety for the NRA is when a non member is shot instead of a member.
Might be one of the sons or the father who went nuts. Too many guns in the hands of too many whackos
Mandatory open carry at the upcoming GOP convention!!!! YEAH!!!!
Sure. If they object, ask why.
Zipper that gun up. Not worth scaring the little ducks.
America either has to ban guns or video games. Can’t have both out at the same time.
We don’t need any more excuses. Humans are way too vulnerable to unusual behavior, responsible gun owner, or not.
It is long past time to repeal the Second Amendment and restore some sanity to our society. We can do this!
You gun grabbers are NOT getting mine. Over and out