LONG BEACH, Wash. (AP) - A man accused of wounding his neighbor in a Long Beach trailer park and retreating into a trailer ended a standoff with police Monday by fatally shooting himself as his trailer began to burn, a Pacific County sheriff’s deputy said.
Chief Criminal Deputy Pat Matlock said law enforcement officers who responded to the initial shooting Monday evacuated the park and tried to talk to the armed man, KATU-TV reported (https://is.gd/TZTxeC ).
Smoke began coming from the trailer roof, then the man emerged with a gun and shot himself, Matlock said. Ammunition inside the trailer began to explode as the fire grew, he said. Firefighters later controlled the blaze at the Safe Haven RV park.
No law enforcement officers fired their weapons, Matlock said.
Neither the dead man nor the wounded man was immediately identified. The wounded man was taken to a hospital; his injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.
More than a dozen law enforcement vehicles rushed north through Long Beach immediately after the initial shooting, the Daily Astorian reported. The southwest Washington coastal town was busy with tourists and spring break visitors.
A local elementary school and an early childhood education center were briefly locked down.
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