A man fatally shot four people believed to be members of his own family then kept police at bay for several hours on Friday before killing himself, but a 12-year-old girl thought to be the gunman’s daughter escaped the carnage, authorities said.
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A standoff ensued as SWAT and Washington State Patrol deputies arrived and negotiators talked with the gunman.
The sheriff’s office received reports of four shot at a home in Belfair, the agency said on Twitter.
This is a developing story and we’ll have more information as we get it.
Belfair is about 25 miles southwest of Seattle.
They tried to negotiate with the man for about three hours before he finally walked out of the home and shot himself.
Four people and the suspect were confirmed dead after the standoff ended, the Mason County Sheriff’s Office said shortly before 2 p.m. local time (5 p.m. ET).
A sheriff official shuts down a road near the site of the shooting. “It’s a awful tragedy”.
The newspaper quoted Mason County Sheriff Deputy Chief Ryan Spurling as saying that a man called law enforcement on Friday morning and reported that he shot two children, a woman and another person. The suspect shot himself. When he returned home, he was on a lot of medications, Pigott said of the man.
Authorities said there were 11 structures on the property, local broadcaster KING5 reported. According to the one of the family’s neighbours, the couple who lived in the house were in their 40s and had been married for four or five years.
Authorities say one child has been taken to the hospital from a home in rural western Washington where they are negotiating with a gunman who says he shot four people.
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The Mason County sheriff’s office is reporting a shooting outside of Belfair in Mason County.
