Covington man accused of shooting inside Auburn casino charged by King County Prosecutor

The King County Prosecutor's Office filed charges today against a Covington man who is accused in the July 24 shooting inside a crowded nightclub at the Muckleshoot Casino in Auburn.

The King County Prosecutor’s Office filed charges today against a Covington man who is accused in the July 24 shooting inside a crowded nightclub at the Muckleshoot Casino in Auburn.

Cesar Chaparro-Vielma, 42, was charged today with seven counts of first-degree assault for shooting his estranged wife and her male friend.

Chaparro-Vielma is also accused of shooting his estranged wife’s two sisters and stray bullets from the defendant’s gun injured three bystanders. Each count of assault includes a firearm sentencing enhancement.

Chaparro-Vielma faces a sentence range of 89 to 101 years in prison.

According to charging papers, casino surveillance cameras caught him entering the casino at midnight. He then allegedly argued with his wife, left and then returned later.

The charging papers also state surveillance videos showed Chaparro-Vielma entered the casino a second time at around 1:09 a.m. He then reportedly went into the bathroom for a few minutes and then walked into the Galaxy dance club.

He was in the dance club for approximately 19 minutes before he made his way across the dance floor.

There, his wife and her male friend were dancing, where he reportedly opened fired with a Glock 23. Both his wife and her male friend were hit, but, were later deemed in satisfactory condition after they and another victim were transported to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Three other victims were taken to Valley Medical Center in Renton and later released.

Chaparro-Vielma remains in jail with bail set at $1 million. Arraignment is scheduled for August 9 at 9 a.m. at the Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center, courtroom GA.

Dennis Box contributed to this report.