Mercer Island Police are investigating a possible murder-suicide at a home on Wembley Lane.
Police say officers were called to the home around 10:45 a.m. Tuesday for a wellness check and observed a body inside.
Commander Jeff Magnan with the Mercer Island Police Department told KOMO News the elderly woman who owns the home and her son were found dead inside. The woman is believed to be around 70, and the man is believed to be in his mid-40s.
“Both were found with obvious gunshot wounds, and at this point we’re still under investigation as to motive,” Magnan said.
Police believe the deaths happened sometime within the last 24 hours, possibly the night before or sometime earlier Tuesday morning. Investigators do not believe there is any other suspect involved.
“We’re not looking for anyone; we believe both individuals are inside. We’re investigating this as a potential homicide-suicide,” Magnan said. “It’s very unfortunate, obviously this hits our community very hard, but that’s our investigation at this point. We are very open-minded, we’re looking at all the evidence that’s potentially there, but at this point, we’re using that as our baseline.”
The gun believed to be used in the incident was recovered inside the crime scene. Police are working with the King County Prosecutor’s Office to secure search warrants, and the Washington State Patrol crime lab will help process the crime scene.
“It’s not unusual; we do have events that occur like this,” Magnan told KOMO News. “This time of year, unfortunately, domestic violence tends to go up. I’m not sure if that’s what this case is; we’re still investigating that, but we do see a rise in domestic incidents that occur during the holiday time.”
This is a developing story, and more information will be added as it becomes available.
