Police: Seattle grandmother killed 3 relatives, self; 3 others escaped

Police: Seattle grandmother killed 3, self

SEATTLE — A 60-year-old woman didn’t say a word when she came out of a bedroom and opened fire, killing three family members in a Seattle home and wounding her daughter before turning the gun on herself, police said Friday.

Three people, including a 7-year-old girl, managed to escape the Thursday shooting spree by jumping from a window, Assistant Chief Jim Pugel said at a news conference.

Police said they still don’t know why the woman shot her 14-year-old and 17-year-old granddaughters and her 43-year-old son-in-law.

“We’re scratching our heads on this one, too,” Pugel said, adding there had been no prior police response at the house in southwest Seattle.

Pugel described a chaotic scene as police responded to reports of gunshots about 1:30 p.m. Thursday.

A 40-year-old woman who had been shot and fled into the front yard told an officer that her mother had gone crazy, Pugel said. The woman was treated and released Friday from Harborview Medical Center.

A man entered the house through the back as police approached the scene then later ran out to tell officers his wife had shot herself.

Neither police nor the King County medical examiner’s office have officially identified the victims.

The family released a statement Friday identifying the suspected shooter as Saroeun Phan.

The statement said she suffered from depression and schizophrenia, and sought medical attention numerous times. Phan had been taking medication prescribed by doctors, but the family wasn’t certain whether she had been doing so in recent months, according to the statement.

“No arguments or fights took place the night before and no ill-will existed in the household,” the statement said.

Police recovered two handguns from the home. Pugel believed the guns were not stolen, adding that one witness said the guns belonged to the shooter. At least 20 shots were fired inside the house, he said.

“Regardless of what she did, several people are without a mother, a grandmother, a man is without a wife and that’s terrible,” Pugel said.