SEATTLE — Five people are dead after a shooting and hourslong standoff at a home near Belfair, Wash., according to Mason County Sheriff Casey Salisbury.
SEATTLE — Five people are dead after a shooting and hourslong standoff at a home near Belfair, Wash., according to Mason County Sheriff Casey Salisbury.
Mason County Sheriff’s Deputy Chief Ryan Spurling said a man called law enforcement Friday morning and said he shot two children, a woman and another person, but none of that information had been confirmed. Before 2 p.m., as deputies who were gathered outside looked on, the suspect “apparently came outside the home and shot himself,” Salisbury said. “It’s a terrible tragedy.”
The sheriff’s office said it will release information on the victims after notifying relatives of the deaths.
Around 10 a.m., a SWAT team, deputies and police responded to the home. Police surrounded the residence but didn’t immediately enter because the man had a handgun, Spurling said. Authorities negotiated with the man for at least two hours.
A Washington State Patrol plane mounted with a camera circled above the home for much of the afternoon, giving police a bird’s-eye view during the standoff.
A 12-year-old girl was alive and taken from the scene during negotiations with the suspect, Spurling said. The girl was not shot, but it was unknown if she had sustained other injuries. She was a family member of the suspect, Spurling said. Spurling could not confirm if she was his daughter.
A man Friday afternoon arrived at the scene, saying he knew those who lived at the residence. Once he was told only one child was still alive, he asked, “All the rest of them are dead?”
The suspect never fired at law enforcement officers, Salisbury said.
A SWAT team found four people dead on the property. They were found in different structures than the one the suspect was inside during negotiations, Salisbury said. Police searched 11 structures on the property.
The incident occurred at a property on Horseshoe Road, a dirt- and stone-packed thoroughfare in a rural, wooded area northwest of Belfair.
As of Friday afternoon, deputies and State Patrol officers were shuttling in and out of the property. The bodies remained unmoved as investigators worked.
An animal-control team also came to the property, where a dog had been barking continuously. Spurling said there were other animals at the residence, too, including at least one horse.
Jack Pigott, who lives near the residence, said he heard gunshots about 8:15 p.m. Thursday. He thought the gunfire was from target shooting, he said.
“The gunshots, I figured, was target practice. I never thought more about it,” Pigott said.
On Friday morning, Pigott received calls from concerned neighbors.
“I’m looking at the TV and there’s a picture of my road. I said, ‘My God that’s my driveway. There’s SWAT cars … halfway down the road,’ ” he said. “I’m kind of surprised this happened up here in my paradise.”
Later, he learned some of his neighbors had been killed.
“It’s just a sad state of affairs, by golly. I’ve lost four neighbors, evidently.”
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(Staff reporter Jessica Lee contributed to this story.)