RENTON, Wash. -- Investigators say a 26-year-old man armed with a gun forced his way into an apartment early Tuesday and killed his estranged girlfriend before turning the gun on himself.

Renton police spokeswoman Penny Bartley said two other adults and four children who were in the apartment barricaded themselves in another room.

"They fled into a back bedroom and they phoned police," Bartley said. "Within a matter of minutes there were gun shots fired."

The gunman, Ricardo Melendez, shot and killed Fatima Zavala, then killed himself, police said.

"We were sleeping and we heard something like someone kick in a door," said neighbor Raymond Sanchez. "We didn't hear no screams or nothing; just three gun shots."

Bartley said Zavala, 25, had a protection order against the man, and the couple had a history of domestic violence. Police initially said the two were married, but later clarified the relationship.

Zavala had requested the protection order on October 27, and the man violated the order two days later, officials said.

As she requested the protection order, Zavala told the court, "He isn't going to jail for nothing. He won't just hurt me; he'll kill me."

She said she had always been abusive toward her, often punching, shoving, kicking and even biting her until she finally left him last month.

Zavala told police he had recently followed her to work and "gave her $2 so he could buy the candles for her funeral." She said her friends who live in her apartment complex drove by her unit at all hours of the day to check on her.

"Yeah, he (Melendez) was over here a lot, just parked right there," said Sanchez of Melendez. "I saw them one day get into an argument. They were arguing about something right there. They had a problem or something."

On November 10, he failed to appear at a related court hearing, and a permanent protection order was issued. That order was served to him on November 15.

"Unfortunately we see this that very often people request protection orders, and unfortunately it's a piece of paper," Bartley said.

The shooting happened just before 1 a.m. at an apartment complex at 1150 Union Ave Northeast, where the man and woman lived in different units. Police said the judge may not have known that because the two units, which are in separate buildings, have different street addresses.

Three of the kids who were in the apartment at the time of the shooting - ages 5, 4 and 1 - are the children of the dead couple.

"They're the tragic victims in this situation, because now both their mother and father are dead," Bartley said.

Zavala's co-workers at the Casa Durango Restaurant said her boyfriend, who she had been with for 9 or 10 years, was notoriously violent. They said she had just begun working the night shift a few months ago in hopes of finding her children a new place to live.

Bartley said the kids have been placed in the care of state Child Protective Services.