A Chehalis man has been charged with a drive-by shooting and first-degree assault with a deadly weapon after allegedly shooting at a man he, after being arrested, accused of slashing his tires on Monday, Aug. 12.
At approximately 6:04 a.m. on Monday Chehalis Police Department officers were dispatched to Southwest Sixth Street after reports of shots fired in the area.
When officers arrived, witnesses reportedly claimed Michael Guy McCallum, 39, of Onalaska, had driven to a Chehalis residence in a blue Subaru when another man named James Hart allegedly arrived at the same residence and began to slash the tires on McCallum’s Subaru. This allegedly prompted McCallum to shoot at Hart. Officers found one shell casing outside the residence.
Another witness reportedly saw a “man with no legs exit his neighbor’s house and shoot at a moving orange truck,” according to probable cause documents filed in Lewis County Superior Court. He then witnessed that man get into his Subaru to pursue the truck.
A retired U.S. Army veteran, McCallum served in both Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.
He lost his legs at the end of 2011 when he unknowingly knelt down on a explosive pressure plate booby trap atop a roof during a firefight he found himself in with his unit while deployed in Afghanistan’s Kandahar Province.
McCallum was previously featured in a 2015 article in The Chronicle when he was given a mortgage-free home in Onalaska that had been remodeled and donated by Chase Bank through the Military Warriors Support Foundation.
Military Warriors Support Foundation is a nonprofit focused on providing both wounded veterans and Gold Star families with both home and vehicle ownership alone with other financial assistance. Following the explosion in 2011, he lost both of his legs above the knee. Though he does sometimes use prosthetic legs, McCallum usually gets around in a wheelchair due to severe nerve damage he sustained.
After Monday morning’s shooting, Chehalis Police Department Detective Sergeant Warren Ayers located McCallum’s blue Subaru parked a short distance away where the shooting occurred near Penny Playground.
“Ayers noticed the tires on the vehicle appeared flat and there was a man with no legs standing outside the vehicle,” probable cause documents stated.
After Ayers detained McCallum, McCallum allegedly admitted to using drugs and said he couldn’t remember if there was a gun in his car. Once a search warrant for the vehicle had been obtained, officers located a .380 caliber weapon inside along with a small bag of what they suspected was methamphetamine, according to court documents.
McCallum was questioned further and allegedly stated he and Hart had gotten into an argument over money, prompting Hart to slash his tires. He allegedly claimed he then fired “a shot” toward Hart’s truck as he left.
Despite his lack of prior criminal history, the prosecutor asked McCallum’s bail be set at $150,000 during his preliminary Lewis County Superior Court appearance on Tuesday, Aug. 13, along with stipulations restricting McCallum possessing firearms, using any controlled substances not prescribed to him and refraining from contacting the victim.
Citing McCallum’s lack of criminal history — with only one prior conviction back in 2006 — and no other allegations made against him, defense attorney Rachael Tiller asked his bail be set at $50,000 on Tuesday.
Having originally been born in Tacoma, Tiller added McCallum has friends and family in the area.
Despite this, Lewis County Superior Court Judge Joely Yeager said, “the allegations here are incredibly concerning,” and set bail at $150,000 with the requested conditions.
McCallum’s arraignment hearing is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 22.
