The child was in another room playing video games with headphones on during the fatal altercation
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An 11-year-old in Washington state called the police on Halloween after their parents stabbed and shot each other to death while they were in another room playing video games with headphones on.
On Oct. 31 around 6:05 p.m. local time, the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call from Olympia Way in Longview, where they discovered a man and a woman in the kitchen area of their home who had “succumbed to their injuries and were pronounced deceased on scene,” the office shared in a release on Thursday, Nov. 7.
Authorities and medics with Cowlitz 2 Fire and Rescue rendered first aid but were unsuccessful, per the release. The married couple was later identified as Juan Antonio Alvarado Saenz, 38, and Cecilia Robles Ochoa, 39.
The next day, the CCSO wrote on Facebook that there was “no indication of any ongoing threat to the public.” The Oregonian and local ABC affiliate KATU were among the first outlets to report the news.
The couple’s 11-year-old child — who was “playing video games while using earbuds” and “did not witness the altercation” — was the only other person in the home at the time of the fight, the CCSO said.
The child then called police after finding the injured parents, one of whom had been shot. After obtaining a search warrant, processing the scene and conducting interviews, authorities learned that the couple had “relationship issues” and “intended to separate.”
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Alvarado Saenz died from multiple stab wounds to the chest, while Robles Ochoa died from both gunshot and stab wounds, police said, citing autopsies.
Detectives discovered one knife and one pistol — which was stolen from Alvarado Saenz’s employer — at the crime scene. The gun was “not discovered to be missing until after this incident,” per the CCSO.
The sheriff’s office did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for more information on Saturday, Nov. 9.
“There is no evidence of any third-party involvement in this case,” the CCSO said in its release. “Investigation at the scene and the autopsy results indicate that both subjects were assaulting each other, but investigators are unable to determine a primary aggressor.”
