2 arrested after 2 killed, tribal officer shot in Washington

SEATTLE (AP) — Authorities said Friday they have arrested two of the three suspects they were searching for after two people were found dead and a police officer was shot on a tribal reservation in northeastern Washington.

The Colville Tribal Police Department said it responded to a report of a shooting on Thursday in Keller, a small community about 275 miles (450 kilometers) east of Seattle. Officers found two people dead, and an officer who came across a vehicle described as having left the scene was shot in the arm. He was doing well after being transported for medical care, the department said in a news release.

Police identified two of the suspects as Curry Pinkham and Zachary Holt. The third suspect, another man, had not been identified.

Colville Tribes Emergency Services announced on Facebook early Friday afternoon that tribal police and the FBI were still searching for Pinkham, and asked people with information to contact tribal police.

Tribal police searched for them overnight with help from 10 other agencies, including the FBI, Border Patrol, Washington State Patrol and police and sheriff’s deputies. The department said Friday on Facebook that two suspects had been arrested.

Authorities urged residents to remain indoors during the search.

Cody Desautel, executive director of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, wrote that schools in Nespelem and Keller would be closed Friday “due to the situation that has effected both districts tonight.”

Desautel said any displaced families were welcome at a gymnasium in nearby Coulee Dam.

School was also canceled Friday in another nearby school district, covering the small towns of Wilbur and Creston. In a message on its Instagram page, the district wrote that there had been “a tragedy in the Keller community” involving the loss of lives.

“Right now, our hearts are heavy, and we are in support of the entire Keller Community,” the message said.

Only about 200 people live in Keller, an unincorporated community that runs alongside the Sanpoil River. The center of town is marked by a post office, a community center and a Catholic church, and small groups of homes are sprinkled along residential streets branching off a rural highway.

The Confederated Tribes of the Colville comprise about 9,400 descendants of a dozen Native American tribes. The reservation covers nearly 2,200 square miles (nearly 5,700 square kilometers) west of Lake Roosevelt, the reservoir formed on the Columbia River behind the Grand Coulee Dam.