ARLINGTON — The suspected sniper in a wooded Arlington neighborhood shooting on Sunday, Sept. 2, was likely shot himself by a member of the SWAT team that responded, according to Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Shari Ireton, but the Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office is nonetheless conducting an autopsy on Tuesday, Sept. 4, to officially determine how the man died.

As of Monday, Sept. 3, Snohomish County Multiple Agency Response Team investigators and detectives were still processing the scene of the incident and limiting access to the road near the investigation, at the 17000 block of Jim Creek Road, to local residents only, whose return to the area was deemed safe that day.

Although the number of shots led police to suspect there may have been a second sniper, investigators determined that there was only a single suspect after the three-and-a-half hours that it took to secure the area, but investigators are still trying to figure out what led the man in his 60s to open fire, wounding another man and hitting several cars before he himself was killed. Ireton acknowledged that multiple shots were fired from both sides within a few minutes.

At approximately 1:30 p.m. on Sept. 2, several law enforcement agencies — including the Snohomish and King county sheriff’s offices, as well as the Everett, Lynnwood and Edmonds police departments — responded to a 911 call of shots being fired in the 17000 block of Jim Creek Road. One man had already been shot in the leg and transported to a nearby hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Ireton explained that, due to the size and nature of the incident, area residents were contacted by the Department of Emergency Management and asked to stay inside their homes, while a stretch of Jim Creek Road was closed for several hours to all traffic.

At around 8 p.m. that Sunday, the Snohomish County Multiple Agency Response Team confirmed that one suspect was dead and one weapon had been recovered. An intense search of the area, including property and structures alike, continued until about 11:30 p.m., when the area was secured, Jim Creek Road was reopened to traffic and the investigation was suspended until the next morning.

While no other injuries have been reported at this time, investigators have confirmed that several civilian vehicles may have been struck by stray gunfire during the incident. Anyone who believes their vehicle was struck by a bullet or has further information about the incident is being asked to call the anonymous tip line at 425-388-3845.