GOLD BAR, Wash. — A suspect is in custody after two women were shot in Gold Bar, one of them fatally, according to the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office.
The Snohomish County Sheriff's Office said the shooting happened around 7 p.m. Tuesday after a verbal altercation took place at the Big Eddy boat launch in Gold Bar.
According to court documents, one of the victims called police as she was fleeing the scene and told them her friend had been murdered next to her and that she had been shot in the head.
The victim told police she abandoned her car and hid after it became disabled near Old Owen Road in Monroe. The documents said the victim was scared the suspect was chasing after her.
Responding deputies discovered a 32-year-old woman deceased in the passenger seat with a gunshot wound to the head and the 29-year-old caller with a "considerable amount of blood" on her clothing and a laceration on her forehead. The victim was transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The court documents said the victim told police that she knew the suspect through narcotics transactions and recent discussions surrounding car repairs. However, her friend who was killed was "mere acquaintances at best" with the suspect, according to police.
Through the investigation, detectives learned the two women met up with the 44-year-old suspect at Big Eddy boat launch regarding money for a car part.
The documents revealed the verbal altercation happened because the suspect wanted to discuss a relationship with one of the victims, to which one of the victims told him to get out of her car.
The suspect allegedly told the victim "Well, you have seen the generous side of me, now you are going to see the other side" before fatally shooting the 32-year-old woman and striking the 29-year-old on the head with the firearm.
Around 1 p.m. Wednesday, the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office Violent Offender Task Force located the suspect and took him into custody near the Ben Howard boat launch in Monroe after he ran into the river.
"People in the area do know them, and they are concerned about what is going on,” said Steven Baker, who lives in Gold Bar.
Last night, Baker could hear the sirens and said he was thinking about the life lost.
"When that happens, it is sad, and the other person is probably going to be traumatized from the situation," Baker said. "The fact that they possibly knew the shooter is really sad, too."
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