On February 20th, 2014, my wife Shelia Lynn Russo, along with three other people, were killed by Cherie Rhoades in a mass shooting at Shelia's place of work in Alturas. Shelia was hired in June of 2013 as the Tribal Administrator for the Cedarville Rancheria Indians. In December 2013, Shelia told me she began to find evidence of fraud and embezzlement of federal funds by Chairwoman Cherie Rhoades. Cherie was not alone in her illegal pursuits, her son (the Vice Chairman) and his wife (the Tribe's Financial Officer) were also involved, as well as the Tribe's former Administrator, Shelia said. An independent accounting firm was hired to conduct a forensic audit of the Tribe's books for the year 2012 and confirmed Shelia's suspicions.

Shelia brought their evidence to the County Sheriff who advised the Tribe to seek federal authorities for assistance. The information was then turned over to the Office of the Inspector General, who had enough evidence to open a case. With the federal investigation underway, the newly appointed Chairman, Rurick Davis (also slain in Cherie's attack), along with the Tribe's Legal Counsel, met with the Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs for Northern California. Superintendent Akins was informed about the situation going on at Cedarville Rancheria. Akins was made aware of the alleged embezzlement findings, and the Tribe's recent recall of Cheri Rhoades and Jack Stockton from their positions as Chairwoman and Vice Chairman, and the termination of Erin Stockton. The long process of the Inspector General's investigation continued, and the ever continuing threats of violence, bullying and intimidation by Cheri Rhoades was paramount. The Tribe began to take justified actions against Rhoades and Stockton following its Constitution and bylaws.

On Thursday afternoon, February 20th, police say Cherie Rhoades walked into a Tribal Community Council meeting with two 9mm handguns and killed my wife, three Tribal members and critically injured two others. When she ran out of bullets, she grabbed a butcher's knife and attempted to kill everyone in the building before law enforcement arrived. There were nineteen people in the building that day and Rhoades is reported to have made statements that she intended to kill all of them. This was told to me by eye witnesses and from police reports. Also, the entire incident was captured on security video surveillance cameras that were installed in the Tribal offices not long ago. Since it was common practice to record the minutes of Tribal meetings, it was all captured on audio tape as well.