A gunman turned a birthday party into a bloodbath in Colorado on Sunday, killing six people before turning the gun on himself, authorities said.
The suspected shooter was the boyfriend of a female victim at the Colorado Springs party attended by friends, family and children,” Colorado Springs police said in a statement. The children were not targeted in the rampage, and were placed with relatives.
The violence erupted at a residence in the Canterbury Mobile Home Park on the western edge of the city, police said.
Police arriving at the home at 12:18 a.m. “located six deceased adults and one adult male with serious injuries who was transported to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.”
The names of the victims and the suspect were withheld pending official identification and cause of death.
“Words fall short to describe the tragedy that took place this morning,” said Colorado Springs Police Chief Vince Niski, according to KKTV-TV.
The ctiy’s mayor, John Suthers, in a statement added: “Today we find ourselves mourning the loss of lives and praying solemnly for those who were injured and those who lost family members in a senseless act of violence on Sunday morning,.
“We think too of the emergency personnel who responded to a horrific scene, and we keep them in our prayers today. We ask the public’s patience with the investigation, and we seek the sensitivity of our media partners as CSPD completes a thorough investigation to provide answers to the families and friends impacted by this tragedy.”
One woman who lives nearby told The Gazette she had awakened in the middle of the night to the sound of gunshots and crying, as two young children were placed into the back of a patrol car. “And on Mother’s Day,” she said, choosing to remain anonymous.
It was Colorado’s worst mass shooting since a gunman killed 10 people at a Boulder supermarket March 22. Colorado Springs, with a population of 465,000, is Colorado’s second-biggest city after Denver.
In 2015, a man shot three people to death at random before dying in a shootout with police in Colorado Springs on Halloween. Less than a month later, a man killed three people, including a police officer, and injured eight others in a shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic in the city.
“The tragic shooting in Colorado Springs is devastating,” Gov. Jared Polis said, “especially as many of us are spending the day celebrating the women in our lives who have made us the people we are today.”
Niski voiced his condolences and “unwavering support” to those affected, and vowed his department would find answers for the bereaved.
“As the chief of police, as a husband, as a father, as a grandfather, as a member of this community, my heart breaks for the families who have lost someone they love and for the children who have lost their parents,” he said. “From the officers who responded to the shooting to the investigators still on scene, we are all left incredibly shaken.”
With News Wire Services
