Two dead after standoff, fire at Montlake-area home

SEATTLE — Two people are dead and four officers are being treated for smoke inhalation after a fire and standoff with an armed man at a Montlake-area home, according to Seattle police.

At about 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, emergency dispatchers received a 911 call from a home in the 2200 block of 25th Avenue East. During the call, operators heard a man yelling and a woman who was apparently in distress.

When officers knocked on the door of the home, the man inside told them he was armed and refused to come out. He also told officers a woman in the house was hurt.

When officers entered the house, the man barricaded himself inside a room and showed police he had a knife.

As smoke began to rise inside, police realized the home was on fire and turned the operation over to SWAT members.

Seattle Police Department SWAT officers equipped with oxygen tanks then entered the house to find the suspect and any possible victims. Outside, officers had guns drawn and pointed toward the house.

At some point during the police response, the man tried to stab officers, Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz said at a news conference.

During the search, police found a man believed to be the suspect dead inside.

Firefighters later found a woman dead in the basement.

Both bodies have been recovered from the home.

Police said the sound of a gunshot was reported during the fire, but investigators don’t yet know if it was associated with the suspect.

Homicide detectives and arson and bomb squad investigators are at the scene.

Four officers were taken to Harborview Medical Center to be treated for smoke inhalation.

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Credit: Dusty Hauck

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