Clark County deputies in Washington state responded to a neighborhood in Vancouver Sunday afternoon and found a family of five shot dead, including one family member believed to have killed the other four and then themselves.
The sheriff’s office said it received a call just after 1 p.m. from a person who said a family member had texted saying they had harmed other people at the home in Vancouver’s Orchards neighborhood in the city’s northeast.
When officers arrived, they were unable to contact anyone inside and flew a drone into the house, and saw “several people who appeared to be deceased.” SWAT and tactical medical teams broke into the house and found five people dead inside.
“While the investigation is in the early stage, this appears to be a murder-suicide involving a firearm,” the sheriff’s office said. “Five family members at the residence appeared to have been shot, including the suspect.”
Police released no further information, including the names of the victims and suspect.
