Gas pump shooting victim identified as Pasco ‘streamer’ and father
A 38-year-old father had been streaming online for hours when he left his Pasco trailer to buy snacks and something to drink at a local convenience store.
The video was still broadcasting on the Internet when someone shot Danny G. Engstrom several times outside the Pik-A-Pop store on Fourth Avenue about 10:20 p.m. Sunday.
Engstrom often spent hours talking into a camera under the name “Danny Stranger.” Sometimes he was playing games with friends. Sometimes he was ranting about his ex-wife, former girlfriends, police or judges.
But his violent death has raised questions by family members, who don’t believe he was armed, and also by others he had harassed and stalked, who wonder why more wasn’t done to curb his behavior.
His niece Meranda Onouye told the Tri-City Herald on Tuesday that Engstrom hated guns and wasn’t legally allowed to own one. She admitted he struggled with mental health issues, but she had good memories of him.
“He did have a big heart,” Onouye told the Herald. “He was something I could turn to.”
On the other hand, another woman, who he had been harassing, believed police could have stepped in sooner to find him help.
“I warned everyone that he was a danger to himself and others,” she wrote in an email to city council members following the shooting. “ I do believe that Danny would still be alive today if the multiple reports people had made about him had been handled differently.”
Pasco police said they are still working to figure out why the confrontation outside the store turned deadly.
People in the neighborhood called 911 after hearing about three gunshots at the store at Fourth Avenue and Jan Street about 10:30 p.m.
When they arrived they found Engstrom dead near the gas pumps and three men near him, according to dispatch reports.
A Tuesday autopsy found Engstrom died from being shot multiple times in the chest, Coroner Curtis McGary told the Tri-City Herald.
The suspects claimed Engstrom pulled a gun on the group, and they fired in self-defense, according to dispatch reports.
Police have not confirmed that account but no one has been arrested. Pasco police Lt. Tom Groom was not able to say whether Engstrom had a gun, or if the shooting was in self-defense.
He said they’ve identified all in involved and continue to investigate.
This is the second homicide in Pasco within a week. Cesar Diaz-Avila, 39, died on Monday, March 2, after being stabbed in an alley south of Sylvester Street.
Groom said there doesn’t appear to be any ties between the deaths.
Uncle and father
Onouye said her family learned about the shooting after watching his lengthy stream continue to broadcast his empty living room until it ran out of power.
As the video stretches on, three shots can be heard, followed by sirens.
Now, she is leading a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for a funeral for the father of three.
“We want to honor his memory and give him the farewell he deserves, but the costs of funeral arrangements are more than our family can manage alone,” the GoFundMe said.
She said Engstrom loved fishing and bragging about his niece who served in the military.
Engstrom also worked as a DoorDash delivery driver.
While he struggled with mental health issues and a temper, Onouye doubts he triggered the confrontation that led to his death.
“I know he had some difficulties, but he really did care about everyone,” she said.
Troubled history
Engstrom’s streams appear to be marked with confrontation. In the stream before his death, he left while ranting about a photo.
But there are claims that he harassed people while recording, that he stalked an ex-wife, who had previously received a protection order against him.
One woman he threatened reached out to the Herald, claiming he repeatedly violated no-contact orders. She believes Pasco police didn’t take his continued bad behavior seriously, and if they had, he wouldn’t have been killed.
This story was originally published March 10, 2026 at 12:58 PM.