Man found shot to death in his Kennewick home. Police investigating it as a homicide

A 67-year-old man was shot and killed in his Kennewick home Saturday night, say Kennewick police.

Officers are investigating the death of Mark Jurgens as a homicide, according to a Monday news release.

Officers were called to Jurgens’ home on 4100 block of West Third Avenue shortly before 11:15 p.m. to help medics, said the Kennewick news release.

When police arrived they found him with a gunshot wound and were initially investigating it as a possible suicide, according to dispatch reports.

Neighbors told officers that he lived alone at the house, and according to public records, he’d owned the home since 1990.

An autopsy at the Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office showed he died of a gunshot wound, said Benton County Coroner Bill Leach.

The shooting is the 18th homicide in Benton County, adding to what already was a record year for homicides.