Victor Falls Elementary Teacher Killed in Suspected Homicide-Suicide In Enumclaw

An Enumclaw couple died Friday in what police believe to be a homicide-suicide. Official cause of death, as well as toxicology reports and forensic information, may still be two to three months away.

According to Lt. Eric Sortland, Enumclaw police and fire responded to a 911 call around 7:30 p.m. and found Amy and Zachary Erwin deceased from multiple gunshot wounds in their home, located on the 1700 block of Washington Ave.

The couple was reportedly separated and in the process of filing for divorce, he said. They have two children, but they were not in the home during the shooting. No one else was found in the home when police responded.

A preliminary investigation indicates that the husband shot his wife and then himself, Sortland said.

However, police are waiting for final results of the forensics investigation being handled by the Washington State crime lab, as well as autopsy and toxicology reports from the King County Medical Examiner's Office, for confirmation.

Neighbor and Patch Local Voices contributor Dr. Mary Ballard said the neighborhood in which the Erwins lived was very close-knit and the shooting has hit the community hard.

"It's devastating," she said. 

According to the Courier-Herald, Amy Erwin was a teacher at  in Bonney Lake.

The investigation into this shooting continues as police look deeper into a cause or motive, Sortland said.

"Police, for the following weeks, will delve more deeply into the background of the couple and try to find a cause or circumstance that led to this tragic shooting," he said.

Enumclaw police handles a number of domestic-violence incidents, though one which leads to a double fatality like this is rare, Sortland said.

"We deal with domestic violence at all different levels of violence," he said. "Some involve absolutely no injuries, while at the other end of the spectrum, there are tragedies like the incident last night."