Police believe a man in his 40s and his mother in her 70s died in a suspected homicide-suicide at a house on Mercer Island.
As the investigation went on, police discovered two other people dead in Issaquah.
The Mercer Island woman's attorney had tipped off police about a concerning email that raised fears for the occupants' safety" at her home in the 8400 block of Southeast 46th Street, according to police.
Officers found the mother and son dead in the home during a welfare check around 10:45 a.m. Tuesday, according to police. The bodies had "obvious" gunshot wounds, and investigators found guns at the scene, police said.
"We're not looking for anyone," Mercer Island police Cmdr. Jeff Magnan said Tuesday at a news conference aired by KOMO. "We're investigating this as a potential homicide-suicide. It's very unfortunate, obviously. This hits our community very, very hard, but that's our investigation."
The mother, who was in her late 70s, owned the home, police said.
Investigators said the pair lived there together. Detectives were still investigating what led up to the deaths. They were working with the Washington State Patrol to process the scene. Magnan was not able to say who fired the fatal shots. Police were seeking search warrants to examine security footage and other evidence.
Around 11:40 a.m., police in Issaquah received a call from Mercer Island investigators asking for a welfare check in the 400 block of Southeast Evans Lane — fearing other people may also be harmed. There, officers went into a home and found two people deceased: a woman in her 40s and a man in his 30s.
Investigators noted there was no sign of forced entry at the Issaquah home.
"At this point in the investigation details lead us to believe there are no outstanding suspects and no ongoing threat to the community," according to the Issaquah Police Department. "These are the only details able to be released at this time.
The two addresses are about 14 miles apart.
The King County medical examiner's office will determine the cause and manner of all four deaths.
Mercer Island, with a population of 25,000, has one of the lowest homicide rates in Washington state. Crime statistics show the Police Department had handled four homicide cases over the past decade.
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