Questions surround man's death

COEUR d’ALENE — The shooting death of a 22-year-old Hayden man remains under investigation by Coeur d’Alene police detectives.

Police found Richard Baumgartner in a vehicle in a downtown parking lot around 1 a.m. Sunday with a gunshot wound to the back of his head. He was pronounced dead at Kootenai Health.

Det. Jared Reneau said police are investigating the death as suspicious. The detective could not confirm reports of an earlier altercation at a sports bar not far from the parking lot where Baumgartner’s body was found.

Reneau said he has heard rumors that Baumgartner was involved in an incident at the Rocker Room bar prior to his death.

“I have heard it was mentioned in the media,” he said. “But I don’t have any information that it was related.”

In addition to several TV news reports of an altercation, family and friends are posting about it online, including on a crowdfunding web page seeking donations to help pay for the Hayden man’s funeral.

“Today a very terrible tragedy happened to the Baumgartner Family,” stated the page on gofundme.com. “Richard E. Baumgartner has passed away after a conflict at the Rocker Room bar in Coeur d'Alene.”

Dave Pullis, owner of the Rocker Room near East Third Street and Coeur d’Alene Avenue, said the details of what happened are being sorted out by the police.

“Honestly, I don’t know exactly what happened,” Pullis said. “We are kind of waiting for the police to tell us what happened.”

Pullis said one thing he can say for certain is that the shooting did not occur at his bar. It happened in a parking lot across the street from the bar.

Baumgartner leaves behind several siblings, his parents and his daughter, Ayla.

“The choices the suspects made last night have left little Ayla without her daddy and a family without their son and brother,” stated the GoFundMe site. “With Christmas being so close no one can afford to give him the funeral he deserves.”