Court documents identify Spokane shooter
Published 4:29 pm Wednesday, March 27, 2013
SPOKANE — Court documents identify the Spokane man who shot and killed an alleged car thief Monday as 56-year-old Gail Herbert Gerlach.
Gerlach called 911 on Monday morning to report that he saw his car being driven away and fired at the vehicle. The bullet struck Brendon Kaluza-Graham, 25, in the head.
Gerlach has not been charged with a crime, but if the shooting is found to be unjustified, he could be charged with murder or manslaughter.
Court records say Gerlach told investigators he saw Kaluza-Graham raise his arm, saw what he thought was a gun and thought he was going to be shot. So he took his pistol and shot one time. Kaluza-Graham was found dead inside the 1997 Chevy Suburban, two blocks from where it was stolen.
Police said no gun was found in the vehicle.
Gerlach owns a plumbing business and has no criminal record.
Gerlach has been vocal on his social media accounts about his support of gun rights.
In his biography on his personal Twitter account, Gerlach describes himself as a “right-wing conservative.”
In a Facebook post in January, Gerlach wrote “To all my new friends, A militia must be prepared today, tomorrow and forever!”
Another January post on his Facebook was a photo of a man holding a gun and said “I don’t register my 1st Amendment rights and I won’t register my 2nd Amendment rights either.”
The Spokesman-Review newspaper reported that Kaluza-Graham was born to teenage parents and raised by his grandparents.
“He (Brendon) was much loved,” said Ann Kaluza, his paternal grandmother. “I know taking the car was wrong, but it’s not a capital crime he needed to be executed for.”
Kaluza-Graham had a lengthy criminal record, including multiple convictions of car theft or possessing tools to steal cars. A judge sentenced him to four months in jail last November.
In another case, prosecutors charged Kaluza-Graham in February 2012 after he brandished a knife during a fight with a Spokane County sheriff’s deputy. Deputies found prescription pills and marijuana on him at that time, according to court records.
