Deputies Charge Gunman With Shooting Neighbors
By Space Coast Daily // May 25, 2012
Already In Jail
BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – Brevard County Sheriff’s deputies have arrested a Melbourne man and charged him with two counts of Attempted First Degree Felony Murder, First Degree Home Invasion, Armed Burglary and Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon for his actions in a shooting earlier this month in Melbourne.
Richard Frank Coulombe of 1950 Windy Oak Circle in Melbourne, 44, is suspected of shooting and critically wounding 46-year-old Herbert Gravell and 51-year-old James McEachern at their residence in Melbourne on May 13.
Coulombe is currently being held at the Brevard County Detention Center on no bond and lives next door to the victims.
Sheriff’s investigators determined that Coulombe entered the residence at 1960 Windy Oaks Circle in Melbourne, in an attempt to steal property from the residence.
Upon entering the residence, Coulombe immediately shot Gravell in the head and then turned the firearm on Herbert, striking him multiple times.
Following the shooting, Coulombe exited the area in his vehicle, investigators said.
It was further determined that several days after the shooting, Coulombe illegally entered the victims’ residence again and removed property from there that he later sold.
This property was recovered by the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office and Coulombe was arrested for burglary and theft on Wednesday.
He has been confined in jail since that arrest and was formally charged with the shooting this morning, Brevard County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Lt. Tod Goodyear said.
Both victims survived the shooting and are still hospitalized in serious but stable condition.
Anyone with information about the investigation is urged to call the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office Homicide Unit at 321-633-8413 or CRIMELINE at 1-800-423-TIPS (8477).
All calls to CRIMELINE are confidential, and callers can remain anonymous and be eligible for a reward for information leading to an arrest.
