Distraught driver who hit and killed bicyclist kills himself

By KING 5 News

Posted on September 12, 2010 at 11:05 AM
Updated yesterday at 9:46 AM



ENUMCLAW, Wash. – The King County Sheriff's Office says a driver who struck and killed a bicyclist early Sunday was so distraught he pulled over and shot and killed himself.

According to friends, a group gathered at a bar Saturday night to celebrate the birthday of a young man. He left the bar in the early morning hours on a bicycle to go pick up his truck at a nearby farm.

As he was cycling down 228th Ave SE just after 2 a.m., a truck hit and killed the cyclist. The truck's 24-year-old driver immediately stopped and went back to the scene. He recognized the dead cyclist as the same man whose birthday he helped celebrate earlier in the evening. Then, friends say, the overcome truck driver pulled out a gun and killed himself near the scene.

Sgt. John Urquhart said a passenger in the truck, a 27-year-old Buckley man, is the cousin of the man who was hit and is the owner of the truck.

Nearby residents did not see or hear the crash.

Urquhart said alcohol use on the part of the driver is believed to be a contributing factor.

A group of tearful friends gathered near the site where a roadside memorial was growing Sunday, but none of them would comment on camera. The families have chosen not to comment.

The cyclist who was killed worked on a nearby dairy farm.

From: http://www.king5.com/news/local/Driver-who-hit-and-killed-cyclist-so-distraught-he-killed-himself-102730569.html