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Gunman kills 5, including himself in Washington

Friday, 26 February 2016 10:42 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 26 February 2016 11:06 PM ]

A photo posted by the Mason County, Wash., Sheriff's Office shows squad cars lined up near the scene of a standoff Friday morning.

A US man has fatally shot four people before taking his own life in rural Washington State, authorities say.

Police received a call on Friday morning, saying a gunman had killed four people in a private home in Belfair, Mason County.

Police arrived at the scene and negotiators began to speak with the armed man as deputies tried to confirm the victims and capture him, Sheriff Casey Salisbury said.

The negotiation continued for about three hours, before officers entered the home and found the victims lying on the floor. The man then shot himself in front of deputies.

The gunman “apparently came outside the home and shot himself,” said Salisbury. “It’s a terrible tragedy.”

Police said the man, who was the father of the family, had shot his wife, two children and another person.

Also, a teenage girl was rushed to Harrison Hospital in Bremerton, Spurling said, adding she was alive and well. However, he did not say whether the girl is the man’s child.

“There are all these cop cars around us and I’m saying ‘what the heck’s going on?’” said Jack Piggott, who lives on the 300 block of Horseshoe Drive. “I’ve been told to stay home.”

Piggott, who said he had heard several gunshots Thursday night, added the incident “sounded like target practice.”

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), firearms are the cause of death for more than 33,000 people in the United States every year, a number that includes accidental discharge, murder and suicides.

Polls show an overwhelming majority of Americans, including 84 percent of gun owners, believe background checks are necessary for gun purchases made at gun shows or online.

Americans are 25 times more likely to be murdered by a gun than people in other developed nations, according to a study released earlier this month.

Overall the death rate involving guns in the United States is 10 times higher than 22 other high-income countries, researchers from the University of Nevada-Reno and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found.

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