Four victims were found dead after a mass stabbing outside a home near Gig Harbor, Washington, according to local officials.
A fifth person, a male suspect, is also dead, per police.
Police received a call around 8:41 a.m. that a man was potentially breaking a pending no-contact order at a local home. Deputies then got a copy of the order to serve to the man.
“While en route, multiple witnesses reported at 9:30am that a male was stabbing people outside the home,” the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a statement on Facebook. “A solo deputy arrived, and shots were reported at 9:33am.”
“There were four deceased individuals, including the 32-year-old male suspect, and a fifth victim was immediately transported by Gig Harbor Fire and later succumbed to their injuries,” the statement added.
The Pierce County Force Investigation Team has taken over the investigation into the incident.
Police described the crime scene as “very active.”
Law enforcement vehicles could be seen lining a road near the scene on the 14000 block of 87th Avenue. Ct. NW, and a nearby house was cordoned off with police tape.
Officials have not publicly named the victims, the suspect, or the deputy involved in the shooting.
"It was a protection order, so somebody involved in this was known," Officer Shelbie Boyd, public information officer for the Pierce County Force Investigation Team, told KOMO. "Relation to the stabbing victims, we’re uncertain what the relationships were of each of them."
No deputies were injured in the incident.
Preliminary information indicates the victims are all adults, KING 5 reports.
A 52-year-old woman and her 33-year-old son were listed as residents at the home where the incident took place, according to The Seattle Times.
Last May, a county commissioner ordered the 33-year-old to vacate the residence and avoid contact with his mother for a year, the paper reports.
The man reportedly had a mental health disorder, according to the commissioner, and had told his mother her “grave had already been dug,” per the May order. He had also been barred from possessing weapons and ordered to follow a treatment plan from St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma, including receiving medication.
The May order followed two previous petitions for protective orders after a string of concerning behavior, according to the paper, including an incident where the man allegedly hurt his mother’s cat and claimed he was an “Egyptian god.”
Gig Harbor is located on the Key Peninsula, about 15 miles drive northwest of Tacoma, and has a population of about 13,000.
