In brief: Two Spokane Valley shooting victims identified
Two men found shot to death in Spokane Valley over the weekend have been identified as Juan Gallegos-Rodriguez and Arturo Gallegos.
Gallegos-Rodriguez, 44, died of multiple gunshot wounds, according to the Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office, and Gallegos, 53, died of a gunshot wound to the head and neck.
Neighbors described the two men as brothers.
Police were called to Broadway Square Apartments, 11910 E. Broadway Ave., about 9:30 p.m. Saturday. One of the men was found dead inside an apartment, and the other was found outside.
In 2008, Gallegos-Rodriguez was convicted of vehicular assault in Spokane County Superior Court and ordered to serve six months in jail, newspaper archives show.
Victim, suspect each claim stalking
Both the victim and the alleged attacker in a Monday morning drive-by shooting claimed the other party was stalking them, according to court documents.
Christopher Gallo was shot in the shoulder shortly after 8 a.m. Monday in the Value Village parking lot on West Boone Avenue in Spokane. He told investigators Karen Eide had been stalking him since May and followed him into the parking lot.
Gallo got out of his car to talk to Eide, then re-entered his car and heard gunshots. He got out of his car to talk on his phone and heard several more gunshots, one of which hit him in the shoulder.
Police Detective Neil Gallion received a report from the Adams County Sheriff’s Office Monday that Eide had called 911 asking for help with a stalker and admitted to shooting her stalker earlier. Officers in Adams County retrieved a 9 mm handgun from Eide’s car.
Neither Eide nor Gallo have filed for protection or anti-harassment orders from each other, according to Spokane County Superior Court records. Eide pleaded guilty in July to unlawful possession of a firearm after she carried a .38-caliber revolver into a store.
Eide was arrested Monday afternoon on first-degree assault charges. She has previous convictions in Oregon and Alaska for driving under the influence, possession of methamphetamine, domestic violence and criminal mischief.
Police ombudsman contract extended
Police ombudsman Tim Burns will serve until at least 2018 in a contract extension approved Tuesday night by the Police Ombudsman Commission.
Commissioners voted 4-1 to extend Burns’ contract for three years, with Rachel Dolezal casting the dissenting vote. She said public opinion favored a more robust national search.
“All the individuals that I have talked to favor a national search. I would urge the commission not to give into fear of the unknown,” she said, adding that she’s spoken to the NAACP, Center for Justice, Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane, and others.
Other commissioners expressed concerns that completing a national search before Burns’ contract expired in February would be impractical. They also said Burns has served well in the role and earned the respect of the public.
“We are all new at this job,” Commissioner Debra Conklin said. “If this brand-new council ends up with a brand-new ombudsperson … I worry that I will not be as effective at supervising that person” as they would with Burns, who has more than five years of experience.