Wallace gunman ‘wasn’t a monster,’ but a traumatized veteran, friend says

WALLACE – What’s left of the post-Christmas day tragedy in Wallace is visible outside the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office lobby: crime scene tape that barricaded the sheriff’s office after a shooting there, now frayed and collapsing onto the cold sidewalk.

Whoever could have committed such an act would be evil in most people’s minds, said Mullan resident James Zingler.

But that wasn’t John Drake, he said.

Investigators say 77-year-old Drake, of Mullan, opened fire inside the sheriff’s office the afternoon of Dec. 26 and injured two women before law enforcement shot him dead. While a motive is not yet disclosed, those close to Drake suspect trauma from his time in the military may have led to the shooting.

“John wasn’t a monster. He was a nice guy. He really was,” Zingler said. “Maybe misunderstood. But not a monster.”

Zingler, who lives above Drake’s home in Mullan, considered him a friend. The two would chat about gardening, yard work or the ups and downs of life. Now that Drake is gone, Zingler hopes the community will rally around his wife, who doesn’t deserve to face such grief, he said.

Zingler, 67, called his friend of 14 years quiet, reserved and friendly. The two met when Zingler was walking down the street in Mullan. He came to know Drake as a veteran who served in the Vietnam War, and like many, carried the trauma of the war home with him. He feels last week’s shooting may somehow be related to the burden of the war Drake brought back more than 50 years ago.

“The only thing he ever said about it was, ‘Don’t ask,’ ” Zingler said. “Don’t ask about the war.”

Zingler said he was visiting people in a nursing home when he received a text about last week’s shooting, including that Drake was the suspect.

“How tragic,” he said. “You know, not just for him. For (Drake’s wife) and everybody that was involved, it’s just tragic.”

Drake was known around Mullan as a kind man who kept to himself, Zingler said, which is why it shocked so many people who lived nearby. The same is true for Wallace, a small historic town that holds about 1,000 people.

“This happens in other places,” Zingler said. “It doesn’t happen here.”

In some ways, Zingler said he’s not shocked because of the struggle he believed Drake was enduring. Next year, when Zingler is meandering through the streets, it will be odd when he doesn’t see Drake in his yard gardening.

“It is a loss, but he’s got peace of mind now,” Zingler said.

Drake’s other neighbors also noted they never had any problems with him. The day of the shooting, his neighbor Charles Powell watched Drake “drive down the road, like he does every day” for the past five years Powell has lived in the area.

Powell waved at him, but Drake didn’t wave back, he said. It didn’t seem out of the ordinary. Drake was just a kind, “focused” person, Powell said.

Later that evening, Shoshone County Sheriff William Eddy said at a news conference that Drake entered the sheriff’s office lobby and, after opening fire, barricaded himself inside for 1 hour , 45 minutes before law enforcement shot and killed him. Drake shot two women nearby in the legs, Eddy told reporters. They were transported to a local hospital.

Eddy said a Kellogg police officer was hit in the ear with a glass shard caused by Drake’s gunfire.

The chaos engulfed Wallace. Law enforcement agencies from throughout Idaho and across the Washington border in Spokane rushed to help. The FBI also responded, Eddy said.

Even though the town has appeared to go back to its normal operations, law enforcement still is piecing together the events of the shooting, according to Coeur d’Alene police Capt. Dave Hagar.

The Coeur d’Alene Police Department and the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office, which responded to the shooting that day, are investigating the incident. Idaho State Police is investigating the circumstances surrounding the police shooting of Drake, which is customary in situations of deadly force.

Investigators still are receiving and reviewing video recordings from nearby businesses and witnesses so they can create a more solid timeline, Hagar said. Witnesses continue to come forward, and the officers who were involved in the shooting still need to be formally interviewed because they are allotted time after a fatal incident for a few days, he added.

“We cannot release video or additional information so as not to taint those (officer) interviews,” Hagar said.

Initial information that was released the day of the shooting might also change as police gather more evidence, Hagar said.

While some close to the suspect might have an idea of why the shooting happened, police are still hesitant to disclose the motive.

“ ‘Why’ is the question we get asked the most, and in many cases, an explanation is not available,” Hagar said. “We may be able to develop a theory … But again, it would be inappropriate to release a motive unless it can be substantiated.”

Editor’s note — This story has been corrected to clarify no one died in the shooting besides the suspected gunman.