The police detective who shot and wounded a soldier accused of killings at The Gorge Amphitheatre's campground in Washington last weekend is a plaintiff in a gun rights lawsuit filed against Washington state.
A hearing in the case is set for Friday, June 23, at the Thurston County Courthouse after the case was moved from Grant County.
Edgar Salazar, a member of the Moses Lake Police Department, is one of the plaintiffs in the case, along with five other individuals: Millard Sales, a gun store in Ephrata; Guardian Arms, a gun store in Moses Lake; Alliance for Gun Responsibility; and the Silent Majority Foundation based in Pasco.
Salazar is credited with shooting and wounding James M. Kelly, 26, who is accused of shooting and killing two people at the campground, located several hundred yards from the concert venue, and injuring three others.
According to court records, Kelly, a U.S. Army specialist, had just shot his girlfriend twice, causing permanent and life-threatening injuries when law enforcement intervened and Salazar shot him.
The Silent Majority Foundation expressed their support for Salazar, referring to him as a hero in a blog post. They also invited their followers to come to the courthouse on Friday to pray or offer peaceful support to the plaintiffs as they seek a temporary restraining order against a ban on the sale of certain semi-automatic weapons in Washington.
In April, Governor Jay Inslee signed what he referred to as a ban on assault weapons into law after requesting legislative approval along with Attorney General Bob Ferguson. The lawsuit filed by the plaintiffs aims to obtain an injunction against this new law.
Inslee stated in a blog post that evidence from America's recent history indicates that assault weapons sales bans reduce the likelihood of mass shooting fatalities. He cited that during the period when a federal assault weapons sales ban was in effect from 1994 to 2004, such fatalities were 70% less likely to occur compared to the periods before and after the ban.
However, the Silent Majority Foundation argues that the new law will not effectively reduce crime but will instead infringe upon the rights of law-abiding citizens to purchase the most commonly owned type of firearm in the country.
The suspect in the Gorge campground shootings allegedly used a handgun, not an assault weapon.
According to the Washington State Patrol, Kelly was under the influence of psilocybin mushrooms during the Beyond Wonderland electronic dance music festival and believed that the world was ending, which led him to start shooting people at the campground.
Kelly is an active-duty service member assigned to the 75th Ranger Regiment with the U.S. Army, as confirmed by Joint Base Lewis-McChord officials. He has been serving since 2021.
This information was originally reported by Tri-City Herald reporter Cameron Probert.
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