Two dead in murder-suicide on Lummi Reservation

Two people are dead after an apparent murder-suicide that occurred on the Lummi Reservation late Friday night, according to a press release sent Monday from the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office.

Around 11 p.m., Lummi Law and Order responded to the 2500 block of Little Beaver Road for the report of a female who had been shot multiple times, and that the shooter had taken their own life, the release stated.

When officers arrived, they found 32-year-old Essie E. Cagey, of Bellingham, with gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomen. She was taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital but later died from her injuries, the release states.

Alakana L. Halemano, 37, of Bellingham, was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Cagey and Halemano had been in an argument earlier in the evening at the house, though Halemano was there in violation of an active protection order from a 2017 domestic violence incident, the release said. Witnesses said Halemano left the residence for a short time, then returned shortly before 11 p.m.

Halemano and Cagey began arguing again in a back bedroom, then shots were heard, the release stated.

An adult man and woman, and three children who also were in the house, heard the shots. The man found Cagey suffering from gunshot wounds and Halemano on the floor, according to the release.

The two adult and the children in the house were not harmed, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

A handgun used in the assault was found at the scene, the release stated.

The Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office and the Bellingham Office of the FBI also responded to the incident.