TROUTDALE, OR (KPTV) - A standoff in Troutdale came to an end Thursday when police found an elderly couple dead inside a home. Detectives are calling the situation an apparent murder-suicide.
Police first responded to the home on Larsson Avenue after an 88-year-old male at the home called 911 and said, "I shot my wife and I am next."
Troutdale police said emergency dispatchers weren't able to keep the man on the line and there was no further communication with him after he made the call.
SLIDESHOW: SWAT involved in Troutdale standoff
A police SWAT team was called into the area as officers tried to make contact with the man inside. The standoff forced area schools to go on lock down and neighbors to evacuate the area.
"I looked out of my window and you just saw SWAT for miles," said neighbor Patience Laney. "One officer jumped my fence and ran through my yard, while a sniper positioned himself on my deck."
After several hours, detectives entered the home using explosives at the front door and found the man and his 92-year-old wife dead of an apparent gunshot wound to the head.
Police say the woman was terminally ill and bed ridden and it appears her husband shot and killed her in bed and then turned the gun on himself, while laying at her side.
"We knew she was sick for a long long time," said family friend and neighbor Marko Lescanec.
"We could not read his mind you know, no one can. Let God bless his heart and his soul and let he and his wife be in peace."
Detectives say it appears the couple had been planning this for weeks. When searching the home they found the two packed up their belongings in boxes and left all important documents on their kitchen table.
Police are working to notify next of kin before formally releasing their names.
The police activity led Walt Morey Middle School to go into lock-in mode. During a lock-in, students are not allowed to leave the building until the lock-in is lifted.
School officials say the lock-in was called as a precaution, but once they were informed by police that the shooting was several blocks away, the lock-in was canceled. No other Reynolds School District schools were affected.
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