Two years later, possible motive revealed in Foss shooting:
I’ve been following the Foss High School shooting from Tacoma for a couple of years now. When it happened Douglas Chanthabouly shot and killed Samnang Kok. That much was never a mystery. What was a mystery was the motive behind the shooting. A lot of people including myself thought the shooting might have been gang-related. Now a psychologist is saying that it’s gang-related…sort of.
It’s alleged that Chanthabouly suffers from schizophrenia and heard voices. Psychologist Julie Gallagher interviewed Chanthabouly extensively for the prosecution. According to her, Chanthabouly shot Kok because he felt that Kok was a gang member that was intent on hurting his family.
However, that doesn’t automatically give him a free pass on an insanity plea. Ms. Gallagher also stated that it was clear that Chanthabouly did know right from wrong at the time of the shooting. Considering that Chanthabouly ran away after the shooting and tried to hide the gun means that he knew what he did at the time was wrong.
Even if he is found not guilty by reason of insanity he’ll more than likely be confined in the bughouse for life. If he’s convicted of murder he’s looking at 31 years.
