Patient discovers murder-suicide at doctor's office

PIERCE COUNTY, Wash. — David Steckler had arrived a few minutes early for his appointment at the McKenna Chiropractic Center. When he walked into the office, he came upon the gruesome scene of a murder-suicide.

“I looked right in front of me and there was two bodies,” Steckler said.

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Pierce County sheriff's investigators said the owner of the clinic, Dr. Robert Sowers, and the husband of a massage therapist who works in the clinic were found dead inside the office.
 
Steckler said a woman in the office was screaming as he backed out to call 911 for help.

"Couldn't believe it when I drove up what I was looking at," said Steckler. "It was kind of hard to deal with that lady and look at those bodies laying there."
 
Investigators said it was around 8:25 a.m. Wednesday when a man armed with a shotgun walked into the office and shot Sowers, then himself.
 
"There was an exchange, and some shots fired," said Pierce County Detective Ed Troyer. "What actually led up to it we're still trying to determine."
 
The murder-suicide has left the small town of McKenna stunned and asking why Sowers was shot and killed.
 
"Bob never had enemies," said Amber Baxter, a former patient of Sowers who now lives in rental property he owned.
 
"I've known Bob for years. The most amazing guy you'd ever want to meet to be your friend. You never heard of him doing something bad to somebody. It was always him helping somebody. And for someone to walk in there and do what they did is horrible."
 
An autopsy is expected to be conducted on the bodies on Thursday. The Pierce County Medical Examiner identified the gunman as 35-year-old Robert Knapp of Roy.

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