PORTLAND, Ore. — Two people are dead following a shooting at Silver Lake, Wash., near Castle Rock on Wednesday.
Around 10:21 a.m., Cowlitz County deputies responded to a report that a man had been shot at an RV park on the lake and that the shooter enclosed himself inside a motor home with a handgun.
Multiple law enforcement agencies responded, including the Lower Columbia SWAT, to set a containment perimeter around the motorhome.
A drone was flown inside the RV, where a man was found lying motionless inside. The SWAT team discovered that an 86-year-old man, later identified as Ronald L. Brant, died from an apparent "self-inflicted gunshot wound," Cowlitz County Sheriff's Office said.
While this was occurring, medical aid was being given to the 56-year-old man who'd been shot, identified as Timothy A. Russel. Despite attempts to keep him alive, Russel was pronounced dead at the scene.
Several witnesses told KGW that Russel was the property owner of the RV park, Streeters Resort. The Cowlitz County coroner's office confirmed that fact on June 25 — also confirming that Russel had been shot to death, and that Brant fatally shot himself.
Russel was shot inside the resort's boathouse. Afterward, the shooter could be seen walking around the park with his gun before eventually going inside his RV, where neighbors heard a shot.
"It wasn't a pleasant scene," said Harrison Robert, who witnessed the shooting. "And this is a camp that we come to every year, we bring our family here. It was total surprise to see something like that happen in a family park like this."
Robert said he was making breakfast with his wife and grandson when he heard a gunshot. He looked over and saw the property owner "screaming and hollering and waving his arms."
"I thought that maybe there was a fire or that a propane tank blew," Robert said. "But he ran out and said he'd been 'shot' and this gentleman came running out after him and 'bam' one more time ... he dropped. And then a lady ran across the back, along the river there, and he shot at her and didn't hit her. After that, the panic took hold."
Authorities have not said how the two men knew each other.
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