Deputies with the King County Sheriff's Office in Washington state said five people, including three children, were killed Monday morning in a suburb east of Seattle. A teenage boy was taken into custody in the "possible domestic violence situation" at the home. Photo courtesy of King County Sheriff's Office
Oct. 21 (UPI) -- A teenage boy is in custody after five people, including three children, were killed Monday in Washington state.
Deputies with the King County Sheriff's Office responded to reports of an "apparent mass shooting" just before 5 a.m. PDT at a house in an unincorporated part of Fall City, about 25 miles east of Seattle
Five people were killed in the house and "it appears the brother who fired the weapon tried to hang himself," multiple paramedics and first responders told reporters.
While deputies have not confirmed the suspect's relationship to the victims, they did call the incident a "possible domestic violence situation." One "high school-aged" teen was taken into custody and remains at the King County Juvenile Detention Center.
"What they found was a mix of injured and deceased persons," King County Sheriff's deputy Mike Mellis told reporters about what deputies found at the home early Monday morning, after receiving multiple calls -- including some from victims inside the house, who were hiding in a bathroom. One female victim was taken to a hospital for treatment and is in satisfactory condition.
"Very, very sad. Very disturbed," King County Sheriff Patti Cole-Tindall told reporters. "I know that my team will do an excellent job in investigating this and we will determine the facts related to this incident."
Snoqualmie Valley School District's website also called the incident "devastating."
"This morning, our community was struck by the devastating news of an incident in Fall City involving multiple school-age victims. We currently understand that the family involved did not attend our schools, however, we recognize that events like this can affect all of us, including our students," said Superintendent Dan Schlotfeldt.
The ages and victims involved in the shooting have not been released.
"It's a pretty nice area, low crime rate in general," Mellis said. "This is a place where people come to raise their families."
"Everybody in this community is going to have some effect to this tragedy."