A Washington state podcast host and her husband were killed early Friday morning by a Texas trucker who had harassed the woman, police said.

speaking to reportersRedmond Police Chief Darrell Lowe called the murders «the absolute worst outcome for a stalking case.»

“This is the worst nightmare of every victim, every detective, every police chief,” he said.

Authorities believe the shooter, identified as Ramin Khodakaramrezaei, 38, broke into the couple’s home in Redmond, about 15 miles northeast of Seattle, through a bedroom window around 2 a.m. The mother The woman ran into the shooter but escaped and went to a neighbor’s house to call. 911

When officers arrived, they found the woman’s husband, 35, with a gunshot wound to the chest, Redmond police spokeswoman Jill Green said.

Police performed CPR on the man, but he died from his injury. The 33-year-old woman was found dead inside the residence along with the shooter. Green said the gunman died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The victims have not been identified.

Lowe said the woman and the suspect met through a social networking app in a group for Farsi speakers.

«Apparently, he met her from a podcast she was doing and they kind of got friendly, they talked,» Green said. “But then she started sending a lot of messages to the point where she decided to withdraw. »

The woman first contacted the Redmond Police Department in December, Lowe said, and followed that up in January as the suspect’s action «escalated.»

At one point, Lowe said, he reported more than 100 «contacts» from the man in a single day. He appeared in person and mailed gifts and other items, Lowe said.

The victims installed security cameras and did «everything possible» to protect themselves, he said.

Lowe said he was briefed on the case earlier this week.

King County District Court records show Khodakaramrezaei was charged with one count of misdemeanor stalking and two counts of harassing telephone calls on March 2, the same day a warrant was issued for his arrest.

On March 3, a judge granted a temporary protection order against Khodakaramrezaei and set a hearing for a full order, records show.

Khodakaramrezaei, who was not present at the hearing, was ordered to hand over his weapons. Green said that because the gunman lived in Texas, officers couldn’t serve the man with the warrant. «because we couldn’t make contact with him.»

Police don’t know how long he had been in Washington before the shooting.

«It’s unfortunate that the bullying ended in such a tragic way,» Green said.