Deputies found a suspect within a day after two people were shot at a home in what authorities described as a domestic violence case.
HOODSPORT, Wash. — The shooting deaths of two people at a home in Hoodsport quickly became a manhunt across Mason County, with deputies searching through Tuesday night and arresting Robert T. Child on Wednesday in a case tied to domestic violence and a pending divorce.
The speed of the arrest became one of the first clear facts in a case otherwise filled with open questions. The sheriff’s office said deputies were investigating a double homicide related to domestic violence, identified Child as the suspect and, within about a day, announced he was in custody. Soon afterward, prosecutors filed murder and burglary charges.
Authorities were first called to the Hoodsport area around 7 p.m. on March 24. At the home, deputies found two victims dead: Anna Child, 46, on a stairway with gunshot injuries, and Jason Hilde, 46, near the front door with a fatal wound to the head, according to court records cited by local media. The sheriff’s office said the case was tied to domestic violence, and witness accounts described Robert Child leaving the home after the shooting. One teen who had been inside told investigators that Child entered carrying a shotgun, yelled while looking for someone and that gunshots followed. Those details gave deputies a working suspect and an immediate reason to believe he had left the scene armed and dangerous. A shotgun and spent shells were found inside the residence, according to charging documents described in local reports.
The public search effort broadened the case beyond the house itself. The sheriff’s office circulated a description of a white pickup truck believed to be connected to the suspect. KOMO reported that the truck was later found before the suspect himself was captured, a detail that suggested investigators were moving in stages: first the scene, then the vehicle, then the man. KIRO said Child was ultimately arrested at a gas station outside Shelton after a tip. By then, the sheriff’s office was publicly thanking community members and partner agencies. In a written statement carried by local outlets, officials said deputies and detectives worked tirelessly to bring the case to a swift resolution in under 24 hours. That language also signaled the sheriff’s effort to reassure a rural county that a suspected killer was no longer moving freely through the area.
Only after the arrest did a fuller picture of the victims and suspect emerge. Law&Crime and KING reported that Anna Child had filed for a protection order earlier in March and wrote that she did not feel safe. She told the court that Robert Child had said, “If he can’t have me, no one will.” A judge granted the order on March 23, but Sheriff Ryan Spurling said it had not yet been served when the shootings happened on March 24. Divorce proceedings were underway, and court records cited by KOMO said the suspect was not living at the home. That combination of separation, court action and a fresh homicide accusation turned the manhunt into more than a search story. It became a case study in how quickly domestic violence complaints can move from filings and warnings to fatal violence.
The arrest also shifted the investigation into evidence gathering. Detectives sought search warrants for the home and vehicles, including possible video from dashboard cameras in vehicles parked at the residence. Prosecutors charged Child with two counts of first-degree murder and first-degree burglary, while KOMO reported he also faced unlawful possession of a firearm because court records showed he is a convicted felon. KING reported that his bail was set at $5 million during an early court appearance. Publicly available reporting has not yet provided a full defense response, and no detailed affidavit laying out motive beyond the marital breakup and witness statements has been broadly published. For now, the strongest public record remains the sequence from shooting to search to arrest.
Even the voices around the case have reflected that change in focus. Early statements from the sheriff’s office stressed the danger and the hunt. Later comments turned to grief and procedure. A neighbor told KING he confronted Child after hearing the blasts and found the scene gruesome. Friends and family of Hilde spoke of a loving father and friend in television coverage. Spurling, meanwhile, said he had ordered a review into whether more could have been done before the killings because the protection order had not been served. That means the same agency now has two jobs: prosecute the accused killer through the court system and explain the timeline that came before the search ever began.
As of the latest reports, the suspect is in custody, the truck has been found, and the homicide case has moved into court. The next step is no longer where to find Robert Child, but how prosecutors will prove what happened inside the home on March 24 and what officials will say about the missed time before it.
Author note: Last updated April 19, 2026.