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Hoquiam standoff ends when police shoot, kill suspect

HOQUIAM, Wash. — A man who was in a standoff with officers in Hoquiam for more than 20 hours was fatally shot in an exchange of gunfire with police after he walked out of his burning home.

A fire at the suspect's home erupted around 6:30 a.m. Thursday and spread quickly.  It is not known how the fire started.

Hoquiam police said the man who had been holed up inside was seen walking out of the house as it became engulfed in flames.

"The suspect came out of the front of the residence, armed, and was confronted by the tactical team. An exchange of gunfire took place," said Hoquiam police Sgt. Brian Dayton.

The man was killed.

KIRO 7 Eyewitness News video showed flames shooting from the home's windows as firefighters tried to fight the flames.  The home's roof collapsed and it appears to be a total loss.

KIRO 7 reporter Rick Price said he was two blocks from the house and could feel the heat from the fire.

The incident began Wednesday around 11 a.m. when four Hoquiam officers, including Sgt. Jeff Salstrom, went to the man's home to arrest him on a fraud warrant.

"He was wanted on a warrant out of California for fraud.  They went to go arrest him and it quickly escalated way beyond the scope of a typical fraud investigation," said Dayton.

The man opened fire, and a bullet grazed Salstrom.  The officers returned fire and hit the man, but he ran upstairs.

Salstrom was not seriously injured.

A SWAT team moved in and started a nearly two-day standoff with the man.  Tear gas canisters were lobbed into the house shortly before 5 p.m. Wednesday and the man returned fire.

It remained quiet in the home for several hours until police sent a robot into the home, which the suspect shot.

Police were in contact with the man during the standoff, but he refused to come out.  Officers said the man was wearing a gas mask and a Kevlar helmet.

The standoff continued all night until Thursday morning, when the home erupted in flames and the suspect was shot dead.

Dayton said no one else was in the home during the fire and no other officers were hurt.

Once the scene is secure, a critical incident team will come in and begin an investigation.

A friend of the couple that lived in that house said the man who was killed was known as Rob or Rick Marlowe, husband to 53-year-old Nina Marlowe, who was arrested on fraud charges at the same house.