Tuesday, October 22, 2024
Year : 2, Issue: 8
More than 24 hours after five people were found shot dead in a Washington state home, including three school-age children, the public awaits more details from authorities about what occurred – and why.
Reports of gunfire at a home southeast of Seattle came in early Monday, prompting deputies with the King County Sheriff’s Office to respond to the scene and take a 15-year-old boy into custody. Details about the suspect’s relationship to the victims remains unclear, as does the victims’ relationships to one another, authorities told USA TODAY.
In the hours since, investigators began the process of combing the home and the surrounding area for evidence to help them piece together what happened, Mike Mellis, a spokesperson for the King County Sheriff’s Office, told reporters at the scene later Monday.
Authorities initially received a report of a possible suicide, but the investigation has changed into a homicide probe, sheriff’s office spokesperson Brandyn Hull told USA TODAY on Monday.
A neighbor with some medical training managed to get to the house and administer aid before emergency responders arrived.
The boy, 15, was taken into custody without incident, Mellis told reporters.
The teenager was booked at the King County juvenile detention facility and is expected to make a first court appearance on Tuesday or Wednesday, the sheriff’s department said.
It’s unclear what he has been charged with.
Source: Reuters/USA TODAY
