A Spirit Lake tribal man shot and killed his sister and her daughter and critically injured his mother last week, apparently because he believed men in ski masks were chasing him and they didn’t agree.
The shooting took place last Tuesday on the North Dakota reservation, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday, KVLY reports. Tiana Sharel Walking Eagle, 31, and her 3-year-old daughter, Lokia, were killed, and Walking Eagle’s mother was hospitalized. All three were shot in the head.
Another family member was at the home at the time of the shooting and told investigators that Johnnie Gaking, Walking Eagle’s brother, lived there with his sister and mother. He said that Gaking hadn’t been sleeping and had been talking about men in ski masks chasing him. He said Gaking told the family, “If you f****** dn’t wanna believe me, I’m gonna kill all you f****** then,” while waving a gun. He said he heard three shots and ran for his life while Gaking went to reload.
Gaking’s mother was still conscious when paramedics arrived. She identified her son as the shooter and remains in critical condition.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs said that Gaking fled to his cousin’s home, also on the reservation, where witnesses said he had blood on his abdomen from stabbing himself. The cousin said Gaking had “crazy eyes” and said, “Dead, they are all dead, I didn’t do it.”
A farmer spotted the Focus near Black Tiger Bay Campground and called authorities, who took Gaking to a hospital for treatment of his knife wounds. He told investigators on the way to the hospital that the men in ski masks had been stalking him and that “they” forced him to kill his family.
He initially denied stabbing himself, saying only that it was the men in ski masks, but later admitted that he tried to kill himself.
Gaking is being held without bond.
[Featuired image: Johnnie Gaking/Ward County Jail]
