News

The Humboldt County Coroner’s Office has identified the man who allegedly shot a woman in Fortuna Wednesday morning before turning the gun on himself as Russell Alan Kellim, 47, of Eureka.

The 39-year-old woman, whose identity hasn’t been released, was flown to an out-of-area hospital, where she remains in critical condition.

Fortuna police believe the shootings occurred during a pre-arranged custody exchange for a child the two shared. The Times-Standard reported that a 2-year-old girl was found strapped in the car seat of a convertible parked in the driveway of the Forrest Hills Drive home where the shootings occurred, which sits in an upscale, gated community. She was unharmed, according to the report. Fortuna Police Chief Bill Dobberstein has not returned Journal calls seeking comment, but the Times-Standard reported Kellim was found on the home’s front steps when police arrived on scene after the 6 a.m. shootings.

According to his Linkedin.com profile, Kellim worked as a quality assurance officer and a clinical laboratory scientist at local hospitals.

See the press releases from the Fortuna Police Department and the coroner's office below:

Attempted Homicide / Suicide

On March 18th 2015 at about 6:00 AM, officers from the Fortuna Police Department responded to the 4500 block of Forest Hills Dr., for a report of a dispute with shots fired.

Upon arrival, officers located a 39 year-old female gunshot victim and a 47 year-old male with a gunshot wound to his head. It was learned that the male and female have a child together and had a pre-scheduled custody exchange that may have been taking place at the time of the incident.

The female is in critical condition and in the process of being airlifted out of the area for further treatment.

The male suspect is deceased, believed to be from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The child who was the subject of the custody exchange is unharmed and with family members.

This incident is still under investigation and names of the parties are not being released at this time

Subject: Deceased Person Identified

On March 18, 2015 at about 6:00 AM Fortuna Police Officers responded to the 4500 block of Forrest Hills Drive, Fortuna, regarding reports of gun shots being fired.

Upon arrival, Fortuna Police Officers located one male subject and one female subject that had been shot. The male subject was later declared deceased at Redwood Memorial Hospital. The female subject was treated and flown out of the area for treatment of her injuries.

The deceased male has been identified as Russell Allan Kellim, age 47, out of Eureka. The Fortuna Police Department is the lead agency in this investigation. All further information will be released through their agency.