April Reed, 18, female, had recently moved with her boyfriend, Justin Plunkett, to a rural property about eight miles northwest of Goldendale, Washington, where they were staying in a tent. On September 8, 2016, the quiet of Brentwood Road was broken by gunfire and flames. Deputies responding to calls of an active shooter arrived to find two motor homes and a shed burning, and later discovered Reed and Plunkett shot multiple times, their lives ended amid smoke and chaos in the hills above town.
Investigators quickly focused on a single suspect connected to the property: Gary Richard Hawkins, identified as Reed’s great-uncle. According to authorities, Hawkins had engaged in gunfire toward his sister’s trailer during the rampage, while she fired back blindly from inside; neither was struck. He ultimately surrendered to the first responding deputy at the scene.
After being placed in a patrol car, Hawkins lost consciousness and was airlifted to a Portland hospital. Even as he was treated, deputies announced their intent to arrest him on suspicion of two counts of murder upon his release. Within days, prosecutors filed murder charges, marking the first homicides in Klickitat County since 2013.
Public records and memorial listings identify Reed and Plunkett as the victims of the September 8 shooting. News accounts note the couple had only recently arrived from Oregon and were living on Hawkins’ property when they were killed. Subsequent reporting confirms the charges against Hawkins and the familial link to Reed; however, later court disposition details are not reflected in the contemporaneous coverage cited here.
