Shooter smoked meth before firing, court records say

The 26-year-old accused of shooting and killing a man at a north Spokane apartment complex Jan. 3 arrived with his mother and girlfriend and smoked meth before firing, according to court documents.

Brandon Mellon is being treated for a nearly fatal gunshot wound to the leg in Portland, according to investigators. He fled Spokane to Pasco shortly after shooting 48-year-old Arnold Lomasson in the back of the head last week while the victim was playing video games, according to witness statements.

Mellon arrived with a girlfriend and his mother, Shannon, at the apartment in the 2200 block of North Astor Road shortly before the shooting and used methamphetamine, witnesses said. Mellon walked into a bathroom, where he acted erratically before entering the bedroom where Lomasson was sitting and firing once, multiple people present told police. The Mellons and girlfriend fled the apartment, and Brandon Mellon told his mother the gun accidentally fired, according to Shannon Mellon’s statement to police.

Lomasson’s girlfriend told investigators Shannon Mellon had called her a few weeks before the shooting asking for some “heat,” which she thought meant a handgun. The girlfriend said she couldn’t get the weapon. Shannon Mellon denied to police she was trying to obtain a gun for her son.

After the shooting, the Mellons and Brandon Mellon’s girlfriend drove to the Tri-Cities to buy drugs, according to court documents. While there, Shannon Mellon split from the group. Brandon Mellon and his girlfriend ended up in Pasco, where he was detained following a reported self-inflicted gunshot wound that nicked his femoral artery.

Shannon Mellon told police she didn’t know why her son would shoot Lomasson but did tell police that he is “crazy,” according to court documents. Mellon, a 10-time convicted felon, faces potential charges of first-degree murder when he is returned to Spokane, investigators say.