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Community remembers Bellingham elementary principal fatally shot inside home

A woman and her two pets were killed in a Bellingham home. Her husband was found alive with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

BELLINGHAM, Wash. — A woman and her pets were found fatally shot inside a Bellingham home on Thursday morning. 

The Bellingham school district identified the victim as Lynn Heimsoth, the principal at Sunnyland Elementary.

According to the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office, deputies responded to a reported murder-suicide at a home in the 900 block of Maine Drive.

There, they found 58-year-old Heimsoth dead from a gunshot wound. A cat and her therapy dog, Sukha, were killed as well. Her 56-year-old husband was found alive with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. 

"[Lynn's] death is a profound loss to our Sunnyland community, our school district and to our extended community. Lynn was a passionate, equity-driven instructional leader. She loved kids to the core and always kept students’ needs at the center of her work," district superintendent Greg Baker said in a statement.

Heimsoth had been a principal at Sunnyland since the fall of 2017, the district said. 

"Prior to coming to Sunnyland, she was the principal of Shoultes Elementary in Marysville and worked for Bremerton, North Kitsap and South Kitsap school districts as an elementary teacher and instructional leader," Baker said in his message to the community. 

Members of the district’s counseling and support team will be available for students at Sunnyland Elementary on Monday, Jan. 6 when they return after winter break.

The Whatcom County Sheriff's Office is actively investigating the incident. There is no imminent threat to the public. 

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