On March 16, 2015, 67-year-old Jean Crandell was fatally wounded by a gunshot inside her Shelton, Washington home on SE Evan Boulevard. Her husband, 67-year-old Gary Crandell, called 911 just before 5 p.m. and told dispatchers he had been cleaning his gun when it accidentally discharged and struck his wife. Deputies and medics arrived to find Jean with a gunshot wound to the chest; despite CPR by a deputy she was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Mason County Sheriff’s Office opened a homicide investigation. Gary Crandell was taken into custody and booked into the Mason County Jail for investigation of negligent homicide and first-degree manslaughter. Neighbors described the couple as close and expressed shock at the incident.