Police: Milton man fatally shot stepsister before he was killed in apparent 'murder-suicide by cop'

MILTON, Wash. -- A police officer opened fire and killed a gunman Monday after the man fatally shot his stepsister he was holding next to him in the parking lot of the Sunridge Apartments in Milton, police said.

"Evidence recovered thus far indicated this was likely a 'murder-suicide by cop' incident," a Milton Police Department news release said Monday night.

Milton police officers responded at about 2 p.m. to a report of a man with a gun near a woman in the parking lot of the Sunridge Apartments at 6926 5th Street East in Milton.

"It appeared the male suspect in this case had his arm wrapped around the female. They were engaged in some type of conversation," said Puyallup police spokesman Scott Engle.

A Milton police sergeant and officer challenged the man to put down his weapon. "At that point, the male suspect shot the female and she went down," Engle said.

Engle said the gunman fired two shots at the 43-year-old woman, who police later described as the gunman's stepsister. She fell dead.

The sergeant, a 17-year veteran of the Milton Police Department, then opened fire and killed the 53-year-old gunman, police said.

Milton police in a news release said the stepbrother lived in an apartment at the complex with his stepsister and they were "in an off and on relationship."

"The preliminary investigation found the female and her daughter were moving out of the apartment," before the stepbrother displayed a handgun in the parking lot.