Man kills six, then self, at Colorado birthday party
What's the story
A gunman opened fire at a birthday party in Colorado, slaying six adults before killing himself Sunday, police said. The shooting happened just after midnight in a mobile home park on the east side of Colorado Springs. Officers arrived at a trailer to find six dead adults and a man with serious injuries who died later at a hospital, the Colorado Springs Gazette reported.
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Suspected shooter was a female victim's boyfriend
"The suspected shooter was the boyfriend of a female victim at the party attended by friends, family, and children. He walked inside and opened fire before shooting himself. The birthday party was for one of the people killed," the police said.
Details
Children were not hurt in the attack, placed with relatives
Neighbor Yenifer Reyes told The Denver Post she woke up to the sound of many gunshots. "I thought it was a thunderstorm. Then I started hearing the siren. Police brought children out of the trailer and put them into at least one patrol car," she said. Authorities say the children, who weren't hurt in the attack, have been placed with relatives.
Motive
Motive behind the shooting is yet to be determined
The police hasn't released the identities of the shooter or victims and the motive wasn't immediately known. "My heart breaks for the families who have lost someone they love and for the children who have lost their parents," Colorado Springs Police Chief Vince Niski said. It was Colorado's worst mass shooting since a gunman killed 10 people at a Boulder supermarket on March 22.
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The tragic shooting in Colorado Springs is devastating: Governor
Governor Jared Polis said on Sunday, "The tragic shooting in Colorado Springs is devastating, especially as many of us are spending the day celebrating the women in our lives who have made us the people we are today."
Shooting
Shooting happened within the Cantebury Manufactured Home Community
According to Reuters, the shooting happened within the Cantebury Manufactured Home Community, a mobile home park to some 470 trailers and largely Latino residents on the south side of the town, near the Colorado Springs airport about 70 miles (110 km) south of Denver. Colorado Springs with a population of 4,65,000 is Colorado's second-biggest city after Denver.
Background
Colorado Springs has a history of mass shootings
Notably, Colorado Springs has a history of mass shootings. 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