Five people, including three youths, were fatally shot near the Lake Alice public boat launch site in the Fall City area Monday morning, according to law enforcement officials.
A sixth victim, a teenager, was injured and hospitalized with injuries to at least two parts of their body, King County Sheriff’s Deputy Mike Mellis said at a news conference Monday afternoon.
A “young man” in his “midteens,” who lives at the house along with the victims, was taken into custody, Mellis said.
He described a “chaotic scene” inside the home on Lake Alice Road Southeast and said firearms were involved.
Mellis did not identify the victims, nor did he have the children’s exact ages or genders, but said they appeared to be teenagers. He declined to comment on whether the incident involved parents and their children, but said it appears the suspect and victims were family.
He said the suspect was expected to be booked into the Judge Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center — King County’s juvenile detention facility — later Monday.
Mellis said the shooting “essentially concluded” before the 911 call was made and deputies arrived.
“There was no significant confrontation with the young man that was taken into custody,” Mellis said. “What had happened had happened. It was done.”
Law enforcement vehicles had lined the street around 11 a.m. with strips of yellow crime-scene tape blocking access to the road and to the Lake Alice boat launch, several hundred yards northeast of where the shooting happened, King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Tim Meyer said.
He said a judge had approved a warrant to search inside the home.
Early reports mentioned a possible suicide, Mellis said, but it was later determined that was a miscommunication between the person who called 911 and the dispatcher.
Mellis said there likely will not be any additional arrests and there was no continued threat to the public.
“This incident was a very contained tragedy within a family or with an extended family or the residents here,” Mellis said.
Mellis said the police had not been called to the house for a significant reason before.
Around 2 p.m., Mellis said family members of the victims had been notified and some relatives were en route to the area.
The Washington State Patrol had a unit at the scene to investigate, which Mellis said implies “a significant scene that is going to take a lot of expertise.”
On Monday evening, at least a half-dozen police cars still sat parked on the street in heavy rain. A white tent had been set up in a driveway of the wooded neighborhood with gated properties. Onlookers couldn’t get past the public fishing area due to police barricades.
Investigators will likely process the scene for days, Mellis said. The King County Medical Examiner’s Office will also respond to the scene, Mellis said.
An attorney with the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office was called to the address, Mellis said, which is standard for homicide cases.
“We got a very significant, long investigation at this house,” Mellis said.
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