Two men dead after shooting at Rexford Bench

Two men are dead after a shooting Wednesday afternoon at the Rexford Bench boat launch.

At approximately 3:15 p.m., deputies and detectives from the sheriff’s office and officers from the Eureka Police Department were dispatched to the Rexford Bench boat launch for a report of a shooting.

According to a press release from the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office, a verbal dispute between the men turned deadly when a 51-year-old Kalispell man, Christopher Mark Foster, shot 40-year-old Eric Newman, of Bend, Oregon.

When officers arrived, they discovered that a verbal dispute had occurred between the men who were loading boats at the boat ramp.

Authorities said Newman got back in his vehicle to back down the boat ramp when Foster pulled a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun and shot Newman.

Foster then retreated to the parking area and was later found in his vehicle with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Both men died at the scene.

Lincoln County Sheriff Darren Short said there was no indication of alcohol use.

"Both individuals will likely have toxicology done but that’s the coroner’s decision," Short said in an email to The Western News.

In addition to officers from the county and Eureka, U.S. Border Patrol, the U.S. Forest Service and Eureka Volunteer Ambulance assisted at the scene.

The investigation is ongoing.