Mark & Sarah Humiston 11 year old daughter played dead to survive brother’s shooting as the 15 year old attempted to stage the mass shooting that killed parents & 3 siblings as the work of his younger 13 year old brother as boy is scheduled to appear in court on Friday.
An 11 year old girl who survived a mass shooting at her family’s multi-million residence in Washington state said she woke up to the deafening sound of gunshots just before her 15 year old brother entered her bedroom and began opening fire.
Recounting the trauma and how she came to be the only surviving member, after her Fall City parents and three teen siblings were killed in the ensuing blood-bath, the un-identified girl said she pretended to be dead after she was shot in the hand and neck.
Fearing her older brother would return and ‘finish the job’ the 11 year old closed her eyes and held her breath, according to charging documents released by the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
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She told police her 15-year-old brother used her father’s Glock handgun to shoot her parents, Mark and Sarah Humiston, her two brothers and sister to death Monday morning, suspecting his murderous rage came after he failed some tests at school and got into ‘a lot of trouble.’
Prosecutors charged the alleged teenage gunman — who was not identified due to his age — on Thursday with five counts of first-degree aggravated murder and one count of first-degree attempted murder, the Snoqualmie Valley Record reported.
Prosecutors in laying out the charges stated authorities not having any previous cases with the 15 year old teen, which is unusual for ‘these kinds of allegations.’
The King County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the victims as: Katheryn Humiston, 7; Joshua Humiston, 9; Benjamin Humiston, 13; and parents Sarah Humiston, 42 and Mark Humiston, 43. All five victims suffered gunshots wounds and four were shot in the head, according to the medical examiner.
The lone survivor recalled waking up during the gunfire and peeking out her bedroom door to see her father and her 13-year-old brother lying dead in a pool of blood in the hallway, charging documents state.
Their 6-year-old sister — with whom she shared a room — was shot dead as she walked out of their bedroom and into the hallway after she woke up.
11 year old survived by pretending to be dead
After her brother, who was wearing a checkered shirt, allegedly shot her twice, he then left the room and leaned over the three lifeless bodies in the hall to touch their necks and chests to ‘see if they were alive,’ she recalled witnessing.
The youngster then ‘pretended to play dead’ when he re-entered the room and stood next to her bed, according to the charging docs.
The girl escaped through her bedroom window and ran to a neighbor’s house when she heard her brother leave the room and make a phone call, she told police, explaining that the accused teen was the only child who knew the combination to their father’s firearm lockbox.
The surviving sibling was taken to Harborview Medical Center and released on Wednesday.
Prosecutors said the teenage gunman ‘systematically murdered’ his father, mother, two brothers and sister, and attempted to murder his 11-year-old sister. He then staged the bloody scene before first responders arrived in an attempt to pin the killings on his dead 13-year-old brother, who was shot several times in the head, according to the charging documents.
15 year old teen tried framing 13 year old brother
During their search, police found another Glock handgun in 13-year-old Benjamin’s left hand that was lying on his chest, according to a statement of probable cause.
Deputies responded to the Lake Alice Road home around 5 a.m. on Monday after receiving a 911 call from the alleged assassin, who claimed his younger brother killed his family and then committed suicide out of fear of being caught viewing illicit content.
At the same time, police received an emergency call from a neighbor who reported the 11-year-old survivor was shot and bleeding from the neck and hand. The injured girl then identified her 15-year-old brother as the shooter.
Deputies then found the lifeless bodies of the parents — Mark and Sarah Humiston— and the young victims, inside the Fall City house, prosecutors said, and immediately took the juvenile into custody.
The King County Medical Examiner ruled each death a homicide, according to the charging docs.
The 15-year-old is being held in secure detention at the Clark Child and Family Justice Center in Seattle.
The suspect waived his right to appear at his first court appearance on Tuesday, Oct. 22. He was represented by a defense attorney.
He is due back in court on Friday.