A shooting on Sunday at a Wal-Mart store in Port Orchard, Washington, just west of Seattle, left two people dead and two sheriff’s deputies wounded, authorities said.
A suspected gunman and a young woman were killed in the gunfire, but it was not immediately certain whether they were together or what link if any there was between them, Washington State Patrol spokeswoman Krista Hedstrom told Reuters.
"We believe she was with him, it’s just that their association is unknown," Hedstrom said.
She said deputies were called to the Wal-Mart in response to a report of a suspicious person outside the store, and that the suspect opened fire on the two officers when they confronted him.
The suspect was killed as he tried to flee and deputies returned fire. A third, female deputy on the scene was unharmed, but Hedstrom said it was not clear who shot the gunman or the woman who died.
Three people struck by gunfire were taken to Tacoma General Hospital — two male sheriff’s deputies and the young woman, who subsequently died, Hedstrom said.
The deputies’ injuries were not life-threatening, she added.
A hospital spokeswoman told Reuters she had no further information about the people admitted. Authorities have not released the identities of any of the people involved in the incident.
Port Orchard sits on a Puget Sound inlet opposite a naval shipyard south of Bainbridge Island and about 10 miles west of Seattle.
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