Gun Ranges A Law To Themselves -- Man Shot, Killed At Firing Range Had Used Guns Since Childhood

At 24, Michael Chumney had the sort of energy that never let him slow down. Snowboarding, golf, kayaking, even Cricket; all Michael needed was a couple of willing friends and he would be out the door.

He also liked to shoot guns, something he learned when his grandfather took him hunting as a boy in Alaska.

Monday's outing to the range with fellow church members was something Chumney liked to do every other month or so, friends recalled. Chumney like to collect a few friends from the Mormon church he attended in Redmond and head to a gun range to practice.

But on Monday, the outing turned tragic when a woman from his group apparently lost control of a powerful handgun and shot Chumney dead.

Bellevue Police are investigating the shooting of Michael Chumney at Wade's Eastside Gun Shop, 13570 N.E. Bellevue-Redmond Road, as an accident. The shooter, a 30-year-old Kirkland woman, told police Chumney, a 24-year-old Redmond man, had lent her the powerful revolver he had rented at the range and then stood behind her as she tried it.

Police said the woman from Chumney's church group lost control of the revolver as it recoiled after her second shot. Chumney was hit in the neck at close range when the gun fired a third time.

The shooting echoed through the day yesterday as friends and family gathered at Chumney's apartment off Redmond-Woodinville Road.

It was a painful journey for his mother, Debi Swan, who traveled from her new home in Denver.

"He loved life. He was always happy and joking," she said, sitting in the living room she once shared with Chumney. "If anyone needed help, he was there."

Born in Utah, Chumney spent much of his life in Alaska before moving to the Seattle area nine years ago. He graduated from Lake Washington High School in 1991.

"I raised Michael as a single mom," Swan said. "He had three sisters, and he was the man of the house. He was protective of all of us."

Religion played an important role in Chumney's life. When he was 19, he volunteered to spend two years in South Korea as a missionary for the Mormon Church. Swan said her son was different when he returned.

"He grew up and matured," she said. "It was his love for different people that was so strong."

For Chumney, the real turning point in his life happened just a few months ago, Swan said. Chumney's younger sister, Nikki Oram, was pregnant with her second child and suffering from complications that kept her nearly bedridden.

Chumney and his mother agreed to take care of Oram's daughter, Hayli, until she got back on her feet.

"I'd come home from work and Michael would already have Hayli bathed and fed," Swan said. "He basically became a dad. That's when he said he wanted to have his own family, to play with his kids and spoil his wife."

On the job, too, Chumney impressed people with his energy and generosity. Larry Hart was his boss for nearly three years in the warehouse at Nasscor, a Bellevue sauna-equipment company.

"Whenever we were looking for some hard-working people, we turned to Michael," Hart said.

When a position in inventory control opened last November at Kaufman's Tall & Big Men's Shop in Bellevue, Chumney jumped at it.

Sam Kaufman, owner of the Denver-based chain, said Chumney was special. "It was apparent to me that Michael had the gift, even though he had no experience whatsoever in this business," he said.

Kaufman's is where many of the Seahawks and Sonics shop. And Chumney met Seahawk tight end Carlester Crumpler there. The two became fast friends.

Chumney's mother moved out in February to take a job at the Kaufman's store in Denver. It was a chance to be closer to her daughters and grandchildren in Utah, and it was a hard decision.

"We were very close," she said. "When I moved to Colorado, he said, `I'm not just losing my mom, I'm losing my best friend.' "

Kaufman said Chumney had a dry wit to go with his energetic personality: He would call the 6-foot-4 Kaufman "big guy."

"It's very seldom that you see young people today that have their head on right and their priorities straight," Kaufman said. "He was one of those men. . . . I hope his star shines bright."