15-year-old boy is held pending charges in 5 deaths in Washington state
King County Superior Court Judge Joe Campagna, top left, speaks during a preliminary hearing for a suspect in the shooting deaths of five people at a home in Fall City, at the Clark Child and Family Justice Center, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, in Seattle. (Nick Wagner/The Seattle Times via AP)
SEATTLE (AP) — A 15-year-old boy will be held pending charges in connection with the deaths of two adults and three young teenagers at a home east of Seattle, authorities said Tuesday.
The teen waived his right to appear in court on Tuesday, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. A judge found probable cause for five counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder in the killings. A child was also hurt and hospitalized.
During the hearing at the Judge Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center in Seattle, the judge also ordered the teen to have no contact with someone whom prosecutors described as the surviving member of his immediate family.
The person hurt, an 11-year-old girl, was in “satisfactory condition” at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle on Tuesday, hospital spokesperson Susan Gregg said. Law enforcement officials had initially said the person hospitalized was a teenager.
Police have said they believe everyone involved was related. A neighbor told KING-TV that a couple and their five children lived in the home.
The 15-year-old's defense attorneys said in court that he has no criminal history and asked that the media not release his name before a charging decision is made, which the judge granted.
Several people called 911 on Monday around 5 a.m. to report a shooting at a home in Fall City, Washington, an unincorporated community about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from Seattle.
Deputies found the bodies of five people inside the home, King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Mike Mellis said. Arriving deputies immediately took the teen into custody while the girl who had been hurt was taken to the hospital. Both live at the house, Mellis said.
The 15-year-old was booked into King County’s juvenile detention facility, and no other arrests were expected, Mellis said.
Mellis said investigators believe the people killed had been shot. Their names and causes of death have not yet been released.
The deaths were the country’s 32nd mass killing this year, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University.