SILVER LAKE, Wash. — The man who fatally shot another man at an RV park, then enclosed himself inside a motorhome with a handgun before turning it on himself, had assaulted a female resident after being warned off her multiple times in the past, according to new information from the Cowlitz County Sheriff's Office.
On June 19, around 10:21 a.m., Cowlitz County deputies responded to a call reporting that a man had been shot at Streeters Resort and that the shooter had enclosed himself inside a motorhome with a handgun. Multiple law enforcement agencies responded, including the Lower Columbia SWAT.
The shooter, identified as 86-year-old Ronald L. Brant, was later found dead inside the RV from a "self-inflicted gunshot wound," according to police. The 56-year-old man who'd been shot, Timothy Russell, was given medical aid but was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said Russell had been shot multiple times.
According to the Cowlitz County Sheriff's Office, Brant had been a resident at the RV park. Witnesses told detectives Brant had been warned about making "unwanted advances" towards a woman, another resident at the RV park.
On June 19, Brant had approached Russell, the RV park owner, then shot him multiple times, then shot at Russell's wife, who was not hit.
Brant then entered the woman's trailer — the same woman he'd been warned off from — and tried to shoot her, police said, but his pistol malfunctioned. Brant then "assaulted" the woman, who was "able to defend herself," causing Brant to flee to his own motorhome. A deputy later heard a gunshot from inside Brant's motorhome.
"It wasn't a pleasant scene," Harrison Robert, who witnessed the shooting, told KGW. "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."
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