Lake Stevens shooting deaths likely murder-suicide

Published 10:29 pm Friday, September 17, 2010

LAKE STEVENS — Detectives are working to explain the gun violence Wednesday afternoon that claimed two lives in a Lake Stevens cul de sac.

A man and a woman died in an apparent murder-suicide in the 300 block of 119th Drive SE.

A deputy, who arrived in the cul de sac about 10 minutes after a neighbor called 911, heard a rally of gunfire and saw a man collapse to the ground in front of a home, Snohomish County sheriff’s spokeswoman Rebecca Hover said.

Both the woman, 27, and a man, 31, were dead, Hover said.

“Based on the information we have so far they were ex-boyfriend and ex-girlfriend,” Hover said.

There’s no indication law enforcement had any previous dealings with the couple, she said.

Detectives recovered a handgun at the scene. Investigators did not believe anyone else was involved. The man was the apparent gunman and did not live in the area, Hover said. The woman had been staying in the neighborhood.

Officials on Wednesday afternoon used a Lake Stevens Fire aid car to shuttle young children from a day care center near the violence to prevent the kids from seeing the gruesome scene, Hover said.

The Snohomish County Medical Examiner was expected to conduct an autopsy and identify the man and woman and the cause and manner of death. Hover could not confirm television reports that the woman was pregnant.

Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437, jholtz@heraldnet.com