Man who shot random shopper in Richland WinCo is getting out of WA hospital after 6 years

Matthew McQuin walked into a Richland WinCo Foods six years ago, and pointed the gun at the head of a woman he didn’t know, then pulled the trigger three times.

The now 51-year-old believed the stranger — a veterinarian he didn’t know — looked guilty of trying to poison him.

She survived, and McQuin was found not guilty by reason of insanity and sent to a Washington state psychiatric hospital, possibly for the rest of his life.

After four years of therapy and medications, state mental health officials believe McQuin is safe to leave Eastern State Hospital for a group home.

It will be his last stop before being released back into the community.

The former Umatilla, Ore., truck driver has struggled with schizophrenia for years and while psychologists say he needs some monitoring, they believe he’s managing his mental illness well enough to move into “structured residential care” in the Spokane area, court documents said.

Psychologists recommended Sunshine Terrace, a privately-owned assisted living facility in Spokane Valley. The group home provides supervised housing with other people who have mental health needs.

“Mr. McQuin will have a variety of services provided for him including medical and psychiatric care, assigned caseworker and therapist, and medication monitoring,” according to an evaluation by a state psychiatrist. “He will be remaining in Spokane and be able to continue to participate in sober support groups with which he has already made contact.”

Last year, McQuin was allowed for the first time since his arrest to leave the state hospital for unsupervised trips.

Benton Franklin Court Commissioner Brandon Holt signed off this fall on the new release order based on a 34-page report from state psychiatrists and psychologists that analyzed whether it would be safe for McQuin to be in the community again.

Threat to public safety?

His first move, however, will be to a facility like Sunshine Terrace.

State officials previously told the Tri-City Herald that they can’t keep patients in custody based solely on their crimes.

Jessica Nelson with the state Department of Social and Health Services said she couldn’t talk specifically about McQuin’s case but, in general, the department looks at whether the person is a threat to public safety before deciding to let them live in a group home.

“Patients undergo comprehensive assessments and are constantly monitored for treatment engagement and behavioral presentation,” Nelson said.

Patients go through multiple internal agency reviews and have to get the approval of an independent Public Safety Review Panel before they’re ever released from Eastern State Hospital, Nelson said. The panel’s members are appointed by the governor.

Finally, a judge or court commissioner must agree to any easing of restrictions.

McQuin already has gone through all of the other steps leading up to getting out of the hospital.

Benton County Deputy Prosecutor Terry Bloor previously told the Tri-City Herald that it starts with escorted trips around the facility’s grounds.

Eventually, patients can take escorted visits into the community, then unsupervised community outings.

Finally, they move into monitored settings, like group homes — normally the last step before full release.

While McQuin will be out of the hospital, he will be monitored by a transition team that usually includes a Department of Corrections officer and a care coordinator from the Department of Social and Health Services, Nelson said.

He will be required to go to treatment, have drug and alcohol testing and maintain good behavior.

“If a person on conditional release to the community violates conditions of their release, then court and defense and prosecuting attorneys are notified,” Nelson said.

“If the violation poses a risk to the public while the person is in the community, then the person will be returned to the hospital, and a hearing will be held to determine the status of their conditional release,” she said.

The conditional release can be modified or even revoked by a judge.

Under VA psychiatric care

McQuin is an Army veteran who lived in the Umatilla area, where he still has family. In the weeks before the attack, he was living by himself in a Hermiston trailer with his dog.

He appeared to be struggling with schizophrenia before the WinCo attack, said a 2019 report from a state psychologist.

The Walla Walla Veterans Affairs officials previously prescribed an anti-psychotic medication and a mood stabilizer. But McQuin believed his condition had improved and he’d stopped taking his medications for about six months.

While he told evaluators that he’d felt fine until two days before the shooting, he also explained he had the “same problems” at other times. Those included believing he was being set up, being followed and having trouble sleeping.

“He felt that he was breathing in some type of chemical administered by his persecutors,” a state psychologist wrote in 2019. “He knew he had been exposed to a chemical because he was tired and anxious.”

In the days before the shooting, he drove to the Tri-Cities and stayed at a Motel 6, where he later said people were still “messing” with him.

He returned home the next morning and went straight to the Hermiston police station, and told them that something was wrong, then went home.

His paranoia continued and he decided to return to the Tri-Cities. It’s not clear why he chose the Tri-Cities.

He went to the Richland Police Department and told them he had been poisoned. He was told to go to a hospital, but on his way to nearby Kadlec Regional Medical Center he thought he saw the same motorcyclist following him.

So, he headed to the WinCo store a mile from the police station to be around other people.

WinCo store shooting

Jenna Kline, then 33, didn’t know McQuin. The Tri-Cities veterinarian had just returned home from a business trip and had gone shopping at WinCo the evening of July 30, 2018.

She’d been in the store for about 15 minutes when McQuin entered, according to security video from the store.

He walked around without a shopping cart or anything in his hands. He stopped just once in the liquor section. The two crossed paths a couple of times, but neither seemed to notice the other.

After a few minutes, he left without buying anything. But then he paused in front of the store, returned inside and zeroed in on Kline.

He later told state psychologists that once he was in the store he was “hit” with more chemicals and could hardly stand up. At that point, he looked at Kline and said, “You look guilty.”

He pulled out a 22-caliber handgun and tried firing at her three times at point-blank range.

The first time the gun didn’t fire. The second shot struck Kline’s head, and the gun jammed the third time.

Miraculously, Kline wasn’t severely injured and runs away from him in the store. The bullet somehow wedged between her skin and skull.

Kline didn’t flee, walking calmly to the checkout counter where he dropped the gun and then stayed until police arrived.

A year and a half later, in January 2020, he was acquitted by reason of insanity.

Mental health evaluation

As part of the decision to allow an offender to move to a group home, state officials evaluate various risk factors, including the offender’s attitude, the social supports and how much insight they have into their mental health.

While McQuin asked to be released from the system, Sonya Wood with the state said her evaluation in April 2024 showed he wasn’t ready to walk out without some continued monitoring.

She believed he was reluctant to tell people in authority when he’s struggling. He is willing to work on that issue, but he will need support to do that, she concluded.

A separate evaluation found that he still believes his cousins might be responsible for poisoning him.

“He believes that because of criminal involvement, they were able to have law enforcement administer methamphetamine to him while he was in jail,” according to a risk evaluation done by state evaluator Christina Zampich in a June 2024 risk assessment.

While McQuin still has issues, Zampich said his ability to identify that he is having a mental health issue has improved. He’s also participated in treatment and denied having any violent thoughts or urges.

“If Mr. McQuin is discharged to a supervised facility in the Spokane area, the potential level of risk appears to be quite low,” Zampich said in the report.

He’s also been participating in a treatment six days a week while on his unsupervised trips out of the hospital.

“Mr. McQuin’s behavior has been cooperative and stable in recent months. His mood has been calm,” she said. “He has independently been managing his schedule in the community.”

Evaluators wrote in the state report that McQuin needs more independence from the hospital setting to continue improving.