OAKESDALE — An elderly resident is dead and his wife hospitalized following an apparent murder-suicide attempt at 1:04 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 26.
The 82-year-old man was found dead inside his East Bartlett Street home, according to Whitman County Sheriff’s Office records. His 83-year-old wife was found alive in the front entryway of their home.
Even though next of kin has been notified and 48 hours had elapsed prior to press time, the names of the victim and deceased had yet to be released.
The Whitman County Coroner’s Office will conduct an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death, the Sheriff’s Office reported.
According to an initial report by the Sheriff’s Office, the husband called 911 after shooting his wife. When deputies arrived, they found the woman with injuries consistent with a gunshot wound to the face.
She is believed to have been shot in the mouth area two times, Sheriff Brett Myers said.
The type and caliber of firearm has yet to be released. And the sheriff did not comment on if she was shot in the entryway or elsewhere on the property.
The victim was able to tell deputies she had been shot by her husband whom she believed then shot and killed himself, Myers said. Deputies entered the home and found the victim’s husband deceased from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
Details on whether the couple was shot with the same gun were not released, and neither were details on whether the couple owned a firearm or where they had obtained it.
The woman was transported to a Spokane medical center via ambulance, where she underwent emergency surgery, the sheriff said. She is expected to recover from her injuries.
As of press time, a motive for the shooting was not available and the case remained under investigation.
The last murder-suicide in Whitman County occurred Aug. 8, 2017, when Janice K. Moore, 63, allegedly shot and killed her husband, Dennis L. Moore, 66, at their home in Hay.
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