Five people, including three teenagers, were killed in a shooting at a Fall City, Washington home early Monday morning, October 21, 2024. A 15-year-old resident was taken into custody in what authorities are calling a domestic violence incident.
King County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to multiple 911 calls around 5 a.m. reporting gunfire at a home near the Lake Alice public boat launch in Fall City, approximately 30 miles southeast of Seattle. Upon arrival, they discovered Mark and Sarah Humiston and three teenagers dead inside the residence.
According to King County Sheriff’s Deputy Mike Mellis, a teenage male, described as a resident of the home, was taken into custody. The incident was contained to the household, and police had no significant prior calls to the residence. By mid-afternoon, relatives of the victims were notified and heading to the scene.
An 11-year-old girl who was shot twice managed to escape her home and seek help. She was transported to Harborview Medical Center for treatment.
She later said she woke up to loud gunshots just before her older brother came into her room and allegedly started shooting.
The girl said she acted as if she was dead by closing her eyes and holding her breath after being shot in the hand and neck, afraid that her brother might come back to finish what he started, as stated in the documents released by the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
She told police that her 15-year-old brother used their father’s silver handgun to kill their parents, Mark and Sarah Humiston, as well as her two brothers and sister. She thinks his violent actions happened because he had failed some school tests and got into “a lot of trouble,” according to her emotional account.
As rain fell over Lake Alice on Monday, it reflected the somber mood of neighbors like Lynne Trowern, who, along with others, watched King County deputies investigate a shooting that devastated a well-known family in the lakeside community. Trowern recalled seeing the children playing in the driveway the previous afternoon, expressing shock and moments of tears.
She remembered celebrating with the children during the Fourth of July holidays when they would visit to play with sparklers. Throughout the summer, neighbors often saw the five children swimming, fishing, and boating near their lakeside home. Trowern shared that a young girl from the family had recently painted a picture for her, which she still keeps.
According to other neighbors, the children were helpful and well-behaved, and the entire family often walked around the lake together. A former neighbor, Cameron, described the children as polite and homeschooled, noting the tragedy as unimaginable.
The Major Crimes Unit leads the investigation, with the Washington State Patrol conducting crime scene forensic analysis. Investigators are processing the scene for several days and executing search warrants for cell phones and social media applications to gather additional information.
Prosecutors filed charges against the accused teenage shooter, including five counts of first-degree aggravated murder and one count of first-degree attempted murder. They stated that the teenage shooter coldly killed his father, mother, two brothers, and sister, while also trying to kill his 11-year-old sister. Afterward, he meticulously arranged the gruesome scene prior to the arrival of first responders in a bid to implicate his deceased 13-year-old brother, who suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the head, as indicated in the charging documents.