Gunfire claims lives of two adults, three children in Washington

On October 21 morning, five people were found dead inside a home in Fall City, Washington, after an incident involving gunfire.

Two adults and three school-age children were found dead, and a 15-year-old suspect was taken into custody, after sheriff’s deputies responded to 911 calls about a “disturbance with gunfire” at the home, according to the King County Sheriff’s Office, Caliber.Az reports, citing US media.

Another teenager who had been injured was taken to a hospital after receiving first aid from a neighbour.

Mike Mellis, a spokesman for the King County Sheriff’s Office, said he could not provide further information about the juvenile victims, but said it was “fair to say they were young teenagers.”

There have been 24 mass killings with guns so far this year in the United States, which uses the term “mass killing” to describe events in which four or more people have died, not including the perpetrators.

During a news conference on October 21, Mellis described the shooting as a “family incident” and “clearly a domestic violence incident that involves not only a young man who’s now in significant trouble, it involves firearms. A young man and firearms.”

“There was no significant confrontation with the young man that was taken into custody,” Mellis said. “What had happened had happened, it was done.”

In an emailed statement, the sheriff’s office said it appeared the victims were “all members of the same family,” but how they were related was still being investigated. The 15-year-old in custody will make his first court appearance later this week, possibly Tuesday, the sheriff’s office said.

Officials did not say how many firearms were used or how they were obtained. Mellis said that the five deaths were “perpetrated by firearm,” but that the county medical examiner would determine the exact causes of death.

The teenager in custody will probably be booked under some type of murder charge initially, Mellis said. “Keep in mind, though, there’s a large difference between what you’re booked under, what you’re charged under and what you’re ultimately convicted or acquitted of,” he said.

“As this remains an active investigation, it is unknown at this point what led to this incident,” the sheriff’s office said.

By Khagan Isayev