Details emerge from shooting

Girlfriend allegedly shot Gossett three times

Matt Baide | Mar 02, 20230

Chantel Dawn Peterson, 29, was charged with first-degree assault, a Class A felony, for shooting Elijah Gossett in the early morning Feb. 12 in Shelton.

Peterson had her initial arraignment in court Monday. An omnibus hearing is scheduled for April 10 and the trial is scheduled for May 24. She was released on $5,000 bail while awaiting her trial date.

According to Shelton Police reports obtained through a public records request, Officer Mike DeRoche recounted that dispatch received a call from someone who said they heard gunshots outside their house and then heard screams from their neighbor to the right. The person said they heard three or four gunshots and believed they heard someone say, “You shot me.”

DeRoche arrived at the scene and heard someone yelling or moaning, and found Gossett on the porch covered in blood, and observed a bloody kitchen knife nearby on the ground. Gossett had gunshot wounds to his chest, face and arm and when asked what happened, Gossett reportedly told police that his girlfriend, Peterson, shot him at their residence.

Mason County Sheriff’s deputies and Shelton Police, according to DeRoche, went to the Summit Drive address and Sheriff’s Office Corporal Stephen Rowe tried to contact Peterson with a loudspeaker form his vehicle. Peterson exited the residence with her hands up, and she had blood on her hands and arms. Peterson was transported to Mason General with detectives and declined to speak with law enforcement.

When law enforcement entered the residence, blood was on the floor of the living room, hallway, and on the walls and doors. According to the report, remnants of bullets were on the floor of the kitchen and police found a semi-automatic handgun with the slide locked open in a bedroom. An officer stated he observed bullet holes in the wall at the end of the hallway.

According to Shelton Police Officer Jame Belleville, he traveled to Harborview Medical Center on Feb. 21 to interview Gossett about what happened. According to the report, Gossett said he and Peterson had been friends for 20 months, and when Peterson became single in 2022, the two began a romantic relationship and moved in together. Gossett said they had a good relationship, but over time, Peterson began to show jealousy and would get upset when Gossett would work too much and talk to customers at the restaurant he worked at. He said she was also upset that he played music better than she could and that he went out with friends without her. Friends began to worry about him because Peterson had made them feel uncomfortable.

According to the report, Gossett said he had a conversation with Peterson about their relationship in the last few weeks and a conversation if they should continue to be together. He said Peterson started sleeping with a 9 mm handgun on the bedside table and would normally have it in the dresser or closet.

When asked what happened leading up to the shooting, Gossett said he went to work Feb. 11 as normal and came home late. Gossett said while Peterson was outside, he was standing in front of the TV in the living room looking for something to watch. He said he felt himself get shot in the back, and he said Peterson was standing behind him in the kitchen when he was shot. He turned and faced the front door because he thought someone was shooting from outside but was then shot again in the back of his right elbow, and he then realized Peterson was the one shooting him.

He was shot one more time while hiding behind a couch, according to the report, and he tried to call 911 twice but had the phone knocked out of his hand both times. He fled the bedroom, ran to the kitchen and out the back door and took off running.

Gossett said he did not remember if there was an argument at the residence prior to the incident, according to the report.