Campground shooter makes court appearance

Published 5:32 pm Monday, May 20, 2024

LONG BEACH — A man was arrested at the Wallicut River RV Resort on May 17 after allegedly shooting at a man in another campsite. The suspect, Brian J. Buffington, 38, of Tacoma, made a preliminary appearance in Pacific County Superior Court on May 20.

The incident reportedly began as a weekend outing for Buffington with his wife, whom he met up with at the campsite later in the evening on May 17. Buffington reportedly drank alcoholic beverages and spent the evening meeting other campers.

The Pacific County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched at 11:34 p.m. to a shots fired call at the campground with an “intoxicated man” who reportedly still had a firearm located inside the pocket of his sweatshirt.

According to court records, PCSO deputies Lucas Marthaller and Rafael Macintosh, as well as Long Beach Police Department officer Anthony Natsiopoulus, responded to the call. The three located two individuals pointing flashlights toward the suspect.

“The other deputy on scene commanded Buffington to drop the items in his hand, and [he] did after several commands,” Marthaller stated in court records. “I then took over commands, and commanded Buffington to stop walking forward several times, and directed [Macintosh] to then cuff Buffington, which was completed without incident.”

The chain of events leading up to the alleged shooting is not entirely clear. Information from Buffington’s wife, Ashley Buffington, shed some light in a declaration. She reportedly arrived before her husband at the campground and was approached by the alleged victim, who invited her and others to a party.

She alleges the alleged victim was pushy while at the party and made comments about bringing a substantial amount of alcohol for everyone to share.

“So my friend and I went over there, as we were there [the alleged victim] had approached my friend and I with a red solo cup filled with tequila. He proceeded to introduce [himself] and told us how he is an ex-Marine and how he hates his job because they never give him time off, that he always has to argue with someone to get time off,” Ashley Buffington stated in the declaration.

“He then went on asking if we would like to have a shot of tequila, I denied the shot as my friend did [too]. I told him, ‘No thank you, I am not a drinker’ as my friend answered his question to ‘I’m allergic to tequila.’ [The alleged victim] then replied to us saying, ‘Yeah, sure you don’t drink, nobody does anymore.’ He then proceeded to say, ‘I brought all this liquor to get everyone drunk but yet nobody seems to drink,’” she added.

“I could smell a strong odor of intoxicants coming off of his breath, he was slurring his words and was stumbling. After he made that statement, I felt very uncomfortable because he seemed a little upset that we did not accept his alcohol,” she added.

Ashley reportedly returned to her campsite and waited for her husband to arrive. She alleges she did not inform him of the incident.

According to court records, Brian Buffington was enjoying himself around the camp until 10:36 p.m. He then went back out to party until he was arrested.

It is unclear what happened between 10:36 p.m. and 11:34 p.m. that resulted in the alleged shooting. The victim alleges he was asleep inside his tent when he heard an unknown male going off about his wife — and then a shot rang out.

“[The alleged victim] then also stated that after getting out his tent, after hearing the gunshot, that Buffington then pointed the gun at his chest,” Marthaller stated in court records. “[The alleged victim] then stated he observed Buffington making threats towards [two] other people, and Buffington would not put the gun down.”

Deputies also spoke with the 911 caller, who reiterated the alleged victims’ statements and that Buffington asked, “Where is my wife?” before he pulled the trigger. She also asked him to put the gun down.

“[She] also stated Buffington was intoxicated and agitated, talking about suicide by cop,” Marthaller stated in court records.

Buffington was subsequently booked into the Pacific County Jail for second-degree assault with a deadly weapon — his bail was set at $10,000 by Judge Donald J. Richter.

Buffington has not been in any significant trouble for close to two decades. He is a convicted felon whose firearm rights were restored in 2021. He is employed as a union carpenter in the Tacoma area.