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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Visitor shooting leaves two dead

Associated Press The Spokesman-Review

PACKWOOD, Wash. – Gunfire that killed two people and injured one exploded near this Lewis County community Wednesday, when a homeowner found a visitor from Las Vegas breaking into his gun safe, the Sheriff’s Office reported.

The homeowner said a male friend from nearby Morton arrived in the morning for a visit, along with two women and a man from Las Vegas, Nev., whom the homeowner did not know, said sheriff’s Chief Criminal Deputy Joe Dench.

The homeowner told investigators he became suspicious he was being distracted by three of his guests, Dench said. Armed with a semiautomatic rifle, he directed the visitors to another part of the house.

There, he said he found one of the women had broken into his gun safe and was removing weapons, Dench said. She then shot the homeowner once in the ear with a rifle, giving him a superficial head wound.

The homeowner returned fire, killing the woman.

The visitor from Morton received several gunshot wounds to his legs, possibly from stray bullets, Dench said. He was taken to Morton General Hospital, where he died as he was being prepared for airlift to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

The names of the dead and the homeowner were not immediately released.

Natalie Brooks, 44, and her husband, Jason Brooks, 38, of Las Vegas, were booked into the Lewis County Jail for investigation of residential burglary.