Elderly woman found dead after outdoor shooting in Burien home

BURIEN, Washington — King County detectives are trying to determine why an elderly woman was involved in a fatal shooting in Burien early Wednesday morning.

A young man standing outside the home Wednesday afternoon identified the woman as his grandmother and said she was shot while sleeping in an upstairs bedroom. He asked for privacy, adding that the family was not ready to comment.

On Wednesday, a stream of people could be seen coming and going from the house. The house is on a dead end street and the front yard was littered with children’s toys.

The incident occurred just after midnight in the 1000 block of South 130th Place in Burien, according to the King County Sheriff’s Office. Neighbors reported hearing multiple gunshots, and officers determined several bullets struck a home, according to the King County Sheriff’s Office.

Officers found a woman in her 80s with a gunshot wound inside the home, the KCSO added. Our KOMO News team captured at least 70 evidence markers placed by investigators near the front of the home, including the street.

Two neighbors said a grandson ran out of the house shortly after the shooting and said his grandmother was bleeding.

The two said they both had medical training and went to help. The two neighbors, who asked not to be identified for fear of their safety, said they tried to save the woman but there was nothing they could do.

When officers and paramedics arrived on the scene, they initiated life-saving measures, “but unfortunately the woman did not survive,” according to the KCSO.

Neighbors who tried to help the grandmother said they later viewed surveillance video and found the incident was recorded. They described seeing four people wearing hoodies and masks firing gunfire at the house. Every window at the front of the house and the front door appear to have been hit by a bullet.

Detectives combed the neighborhood on Wednesday and the family said they had turned over surveillance footage to investigators.

KOMO News has asked the KCSO how many people were in the home at the time of the shooting, a possible motive and a description of the suspects. No new information so far. The KCSO hopes to release more information in the coming days. No one else was injured in the incident.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.