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Couple killed in front of two-year-old son, suspect arrested

KEY PENINSULA, Wash. — A Key Peninsula man is in custody, suspected of shooting and killing a couple in front of their 2-year-old son.

The shooting happened in the 5500 block of Whiteman Road on the Key Peninsula.

KIRO 7 arrived to a scene filled with Pierce County Sheriff's Office detectives.

A woman called 911 at about 2:52 Saturday morning to report a shooting at a mobile home on Whiteman Road in the Longbranch neighborhood on the Key Peninsula.

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"When our deputies got out there, they found a couple people that were down a male and a female," Pierce County Sheriff's Sgt. Ed Troyer said. "They were both deceased from gunshot wounds."

The couple, a 35-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman, were shot as their 2-year-old son sat in the back seat of their car.

"Luckily the 2-year-old was not hurt," Troyer said. "There are bullets that went through other cars in the area. And we have two people that were struck and are deceased from their wounds. But the 2-year-old was not. Very fortunate."

Troyer said there was a domestic dispute of some sort between the suspect and the couple, and both sides were armed. Several markings of bullet casings were visible on the property.

The suspect, 27-year-old Cory Nathan Mason, was arrested while walking a few blocks from the scene. According to court documents, he was released from jail following a drug arrest less than a month ago.

Now he is back in the Pierce County Jail, held on two counts of second-degree murder.

"At this point, we believe that the both were there for possible multiple reasons, one being retaliation for a previous domestic," Troyer said. "And they do both have weapons on both sides and there are drugs involved."

The identity of the couple has not been released.

The man suspected of killing them is expected to make an appearance in a Pierce County courtroom Monday.

KIRO 7 will be there, too.