Police: Rincon Valley shooting suspect planned ‘meticulous and premeditated attack’

A man suspected of shooting to death a Rincon Valley man and injuring his own son and grandson at neighborhood dinner party a week ago died Saturday night, just as police were unraveling what led the man to carry out his deadly plan.

Walter Ross, 65, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, shot himself in the head as officers were approaching the chaotic scene at his son’s Garfield Park Avenue home the evening of June 24, Santa Rosa police said. He never regained consciousness and thus was never able to provide a statement to the investigators.

He died Saturday evening at Stanford University Medical Center, Santa Rosa Police Lt. John Cregan said.

Ross fatally shot Timothy Gillaspie, 43, who confronted Ross at the front door, trying to keep him from entering the northeast Santa Rosa home, police said. Ross barged in, looking for his estranged wife, who lived at the home but wasn’t there.

Gillaspie’s actions bought just enough time for others in the house to flee or hide as Ross came inside and continued shooting a .357 revolver and a 9mm semi-automatic handgun he apparently brought with him when he drove from Colorado, police said.

One woman hid in the bathroom and called 911 as the rest of the group of four children and three adults fled through a garage side door and the backyard.

He shot his 41-year-old son twice in the legs and a bullet grazed his 4-year-old grandson on the head as they ran, police said. Both were released from a Santa Rosa hospital on June 25.

Ross ultimately fired 15 rounds during the chaos, police said.

Cregan said detectives worked all week trying to determine exactly what led Ross to carefully plan his attack - apparently aimed at his estranged wife, with whom he was fighting over alimony payments.

Detectives this week traveled to Colorado Springs to gather evidence.

With help from local law enforcement, detectives served a search warrant at Ross’s residence and interviewed family members there to better understand his motive and behavior in the days before Ross traveled to Santa Rosa.

“Detectives uncovered evidence which suggests that Walter Ross carried out a meticulous and premeditated attack with the intentions of taking the lives of his estranged wife, his adult son, who lived in Santa Rosa, and his son’s immediate family,” police said in a statement.

Police obtained written documents “that show it was a premeditated and specifically calculated plan,” Cregan said late Sunday.

Cregan said, “It became clear to us that he held quite a bit of hate against his son and daughter-in-law because they supported his wife during their divorce proceedings, and decided to seek revenge on them,” he said. The written materials were “very clear, articulate documentation about his plan and he came off as very cold, calculated and a hardened killer.”

Detectives also found evidence showing Ross expected to take his own life at the end of his plan.

It appeared Ross had even grander plans for violence, perhaps meant to kill or delay first responders arriving at the scene. He carried five homemade bombs in a bag and rigged another as a booby trap in the truck he parked near his son’s house, police said. It was fashioned in such a way that it would explode if someone opened the truck door.

In the bag, police found five bombs with tripwires, set and ready to be deployed. Cregan said detectives believe Ross intended to set those bombs around the house with low-profile tripwires that first responders could trigger as they arrived to render aid or take him into custody.

Ross and his wife lived in Colorado, Cregan said, and Ross had never before been to Santa Rosa until he sought out his son’s home.

He didn’t carry with him any written clues as to his motives or thought process, but he did have multiple rounds of ammunition and additional magazines of ammunition, Cregan said.

The man didn’t appear to have a criminal history and only minimal law enforcement contact, he said, although detectives hadn’t completed a nationwide search of his history.

Ross and his estranged wife separated two years ago, and she came to live with their son and his family here. Police declined to release their names for privacy concerns.

Gillaspie, a married father of two, has been hailed a hero for trying to stop Ross as he began firing.

Gillaspie managed and coached with Rincon Valley Little League, CYO basketball and PAL Bears football. He was a lineman for PG&E for the past 12 years.

Friends said he watched over their neighborhoods during the October wildfires, taking his truck out and getting started on repairs even before being asked by his employer.

Two funds have been set up to assist his family, widow Katrina, a stay-at-home mom, and their sons, Conner, 14, and Shane, 11.

Family friend Jeremy De La Torre said Katrina Gillaspie wasn’t ready to talk about her husband yet, but appreciates the support shown through the GoFundMe account and a memorial fund with Redwood Credit Union.

You can reach Staff Writer Lori A. Carter at 707-521-5470 or lori.carter@pressdemocrat.com.