UCSO responds to Richland shooting

By Terry Murry on Wednesday, February 9th, 2022 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories

UMATILLA COUNTY – The shooting at the Fred Meyer store in Richland, Washington saw multiple law enforcement agencies answer a call for help from the Richland Police Department on Monday. One of them was the Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office.

“We sent a couple that way and then, in addition to that, we also wanted to keep an eye on our border to see if this individual came our way,” Sheriff Terry Rowan said.

It turned out that the suspect went north instead. Aaron Christopher Kelly, 39, was arrested on Interstate 90 outside Spokane late Monday night. He is being charged with first-degree murder and first-degree attempted murder. An Instacart shopper at the store, Justin Krumbah, 38, was killed. An unnamed Fred Meyer employee was injured and at last report remained in critical condition.

Rowan said that his deputies are always alerted to what is going on from outside the county that may impact public safety no matter where it originates. He said his office has mutual aid agreements with Morrow, Benton, Franklin, Walla Walla, and of other counties.

“We try to help each other out as much as we can,” he said. “It’s very important that we maintain those relationships, keep in touch, because there is a lot of cross-over activity happening.”