Kings County Sheriff's Office/Facebook
A 15-year-old boy was arrested on Monday after five family members were found dead in their home in Fall City, Washington, in a devastating incident described by law enforcement as “perpetrated by firearm.”
Deputies from the King County Sheriff’s Office responded to 911 calls reporting a “disturbance with gunfire” early Monday morning. Upon arrival, they discovered two adults and three children, all deceased, in what is now being investigated as a tragic case of domestic violence.
The victims were identified as Mark and Sarah Humiston and their three children, according to CNN affiliate KING5. The suspect is the couple’s 15-year-old son, authorities confirmed.
Mark Humiston was an electrical engineer, while his wife, Sarah, had previously worked as a registered nurse. The children who were killed were described as “young teenagers,” King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Mike Mellis said in a news conference on Monday.
In addition to the deceased, another child, a young girl, was injured during the incident. She was transported to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where she remains in “satisfactory” condition as of Tuesday, according to a hospital spokesperson.
Mellis provided further details, stating that the incident “appears to be a family incident, clearly a domestic violence incident.” He also pointed to the involvement of firearms, saying, “It involves not only a young man who’s now in significant trouble, it involves firearms. Young men and firearms.”
The deaths in Fall City are part of a broader pattern of gun violence in the United States. According to the Gun Violence Archive, this year alone has seen at least 427 mass shootings, defined as incidents in which four or more people are killed or injured, excluding the shooter. This tragedy adds to the growing list of communities torn apart by gun violence.
“There was no significant confrontation” with the suspect when he was taken into custody, Mellis added, describing the arrest as peaceful. On Tuesday, the 15-year-old waived his appearance at his first juvenile court hearing. Prosecutors have not yet formally charged the teen, as law enforcement has not referred the case to them, according to Casey McNerthney, a spokesperson for the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
In a statement, the suspect’s public defenders, Amy Parker and Molly Campera, urged the public to reserve judgment, describing their client as a “15-year-old boy who enjoys mountain biking and fishing and has no criminal history.”
“Again, the law says our client is presumed innocent of these charges, and we are grateful for a judicial process that requires proof and evidence before there is a judgment,” the defense attorneys said.
The tragedy has left the quiet Fall City neighborhood in shock. Neighbor Lynne Trowern, visibly shaken, expressed her grief and disbelief. “I keep bursting into tears,” she told KING5. “That is why I have to go to my daughter’s house, because I can’t be here on my own. I just keep seeing the faces of the children.”
As the community grapples with the horrific loss, questions remain about what led to the violence within the Humiston family home. For now, residents like Trowern are left to mourn the heartbreaking deaths of their neighbors and hope for answers as the investigation continues.
