An Oak Harbor man took his own life Sunday night after he apparently thought he had killed his wife, according to police and fire officials.

A 27-year-old man choked his 28-year-old wife into unconsciousness in the side yard of their East Whidbey Avenue house.

A neighbor witnessed the assault and called 911 to report a possible homicide at just after 10 p.m., according to city officials.

The neighbor ran over to the couple as the man was holding the woman on the ground.

Both the neighbor and the husband, later identified as Michael J. Gibbons, thought that the woman was dead and cried out, according to officials.

As officers were arriving at the scene, Gibbons, who was clearly distraught, took his own life by shooting himself in the head.

The bullet passed through his head and nearly struck an officer, who heard it whiz by his ear, officials said.

Other officers also heard the shot and pulled out their guns. They initially thought it came from the neighbor, who was cradling the unconscious woman, but soon discovered what had happened.

The woman regained consciousness at the scene and was transported to the hospital for treatment. She was able to talk, according to Oak Harbor Fire Chief Ray Merrill.

Gibbons was breathing on his own at the scene, even though the bullet caused catastrophic injury.

First responders kept him alive and transported him to the hospital, where he later died.

“I think he died thinking she was dead,” Merrill said.

The couple has children who weren’t home at the time of the tragedy, according to officials.

Caryl Shawver, another neighbor, said the couple seemed like “nice, normal people” who were in the process of remodeling their home.

Shawver said there was never any commotion from the home.

“Our neighborhood is pretty quiet,” she said.

“We’ve lived here for 15 years and nothing like that has happened before. It’s pretty shocking.”