CO - Possible Serial Shooter Has Colorado Drivers on Edge #3

[Forager]

Nice!!! Great work, thank you!

So, I've been thinking on that power couple name...Which one do you guys like better, ForaHGina or Findager? :biggrin:

For the thanks, my thanks. For the rest, how can I put this... "oy" might cover it.

 

[FindHG]

Which one do you guys like better, ForaHGina or Findager? :biggrin:

Briefed, respectfully

I've always wanted an Italian sounding name, magz, so ForaHGina would be my preference, but you may have hit on something. Those two did play Mr & Mrs Smith?

~
There are so many incidents that are clearly different, like these recent in CA and Deltona, the random road shootings seem nothing like them.

POLICE: 2 DEAD, 3 INJURED AFTER RANDOM ATTACKS IN BANNING

"The suspect has only been identified as a Hispanic man in his 30s. Investigators say they don't know if drugs, alcohol or mental illness were factors in the violence spree."


http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/deputies-1-shot-possible-road-rage-incident-delton/nnpNk/

 

[Forager]

I had a try at diagraming aspects of the hole shot into a semi's windshield on 8/31/15 - the last window shattering we've heard about in NoCO proper. Gary Chriswell's windshield was hit ~ 7:20 a.m. on 8/31/15 while eastbound on Hwy. 34 at mile marker 144, in Morgan County. The windshield was made of a heavy grade of glass normally reserved for school busses. Driver was sure it was a bullet.

Marshall Zelinger, a reporter with a lot experience with these shootings, concluded that the shot was from a roadside field. Phil Tenser, Marshall Zelinger, 7 News Denver (ABC), 8/31/15, http://www.thedenverchannel.com/new...over-to-northern-colorado-shooting-task-force

The red dot gives the position of the map marker but the truck could really have been anywhere along a .6 mile stretch of Hwy. 35, based on the description we have: "eastbound on Hwy. 34 at mile marker 144, in Morgan County." With a little common misundestanding and inaccuracy the true location of the truck might be even further up or down the road.



The red area is where I'm guessing the shooter might have been. I'm relying on the assumption that a high powered pellet gun, or a 22 cal. rifle was used, and that it had a 150 yd. effective range. The shot hit the windshield fairly straight on, suggesting a sharp angle of fire. The shooter could probably have been at a distance of up to about 250 ft away from the road and still have a reasonable shot, I'm thinking (without really knowing, I'll admit). A skilled markesman could extend that range somewhat, especially if it didn't matter to him if he first missed a lot of shots. The shooter could have been a lot further away, and the red area much bigger, if Chriswell were right about the shot having been by a gun with a caliber bigger that a 22.

Here's what the driver's view might have been if he were at the map marker, looking down the road toward the southeast. Not much place to hide, looks to me.

 

[Forager]

Briefed, respectfully

I've always wanted an Italian sounding name, magz, so ForaHGina would be my preference, but you may have hit of on something. Those two did play Mr. and Mrs. Smith?

~
There are so many incidents that are clearly different, like these recent in CA and Deltona, the random road shootings seem nothing like them.

POLICE: 2 DEAD, 3 INJURED AFTER RANDOM ATTACKS IN BANNING

"The suspect has only been identified as a Hispanic man in his 30s. Investigators say they don't know if drugs, alcohol or mental illness were factors in the violence spree."

http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/deputies-1-shot-possible-road-rage-incident-delton/nnpNk/

Thanks for that article. It does qualify for my tracking since it involved shots at moving vehicles and multiple, seemingly radom victims. But I agree that it isn't at all in the style of the NoCO shootings. It sounded like a guy went berserk until he was quickly taken down.

There are many quick sprees like that in the list. The ones to which we really want to compare the NoCO shootings are the long, persistant series.

Mapping that incident made me remember the cluster of four apparent shootings in one day on Hwy 71 in Congress, AZ, back in July . They were 60 odd miles northwest of the Phoenix I-10 shootings. Did anyone hear the Congress shootings come up in connection with the Phoenix I-10 attacks? I can't remember any mention of them for a long time.

 

[Hatfield]

I had a try at diagraming aspects of the hole shot into a semi's windshield on 8/31/15 - the last window shattering we've heard about in NoCO proper. Gary Chriswell's windshield was hit ~ 7:20 a.m. on 8/31/15 while eastbound on Hwy. 34 at mile marker 144, in Morgan County. The windshield was made of a heavy grade of glass normally reserved for school busses. Driver was sure it was a bullet.

Marshall Zelinger, a reporter with a lot experience with these shootings, concluded that the shot was from a roadside field. Phil Tenser, Marshall Zelinger, 7 News Denver (ABC), 8/31/15, http://www.thedenverchannel.com/new...over-to-northern-colorado-shooting-task-force

The red dot gives the position of the map marker but the truck could really have been anywhere along a .6 mile stretch of Hwy. 35, based on the description we have: "eastbound on Hwy. 34 at mile marker 144, in Morgan County." With a little common misundestanding and inaccuracy the true location of the truck might be even further up or down the road.

View attachment 82190

The red area is where I'm guessing the shooter might have been. I'm relying on the assumption that a high powered pellet gun, or a 22 cal. rifle was used, and that it had a 150 yd. effective range. The shot hit the windshield fairly straight on, suggesting a sharp angle of fire. The shooter could probably have been at a distance of up to about 250 ft away from the road and still have a reasonable shot, I'm thinking (without really knowing, I'll admit). A skilled markesman could extend that range somewhat, especially if it didn't matter to him if he first missed a lot of shots. The shooter could have been a lot further away, and the red area much bigger, if Chriswell were right about the shot having been by a gun with a caliber bigger that a 22.

Here's what the driver's view might have been if he were at the map marker, looking down the road toward the southeast. Not much place to hide, looks to me.

View attachment 82191

This is the type of incident where it becomes real interesting. I think the middle picture shows a couple side roads that could get real close to the road. It makes you wonder if maybe he was on the side road parked where the other road had the semi going by. If he was pulled over he could wait for him to get right on top of him and then once the semi was hit and drove past the shooter could drive off using the side road.

One other thought is maybe the shooter is on a motorcycle. Parking a motorcycle off the side road would be much harder to spot. I suppose a shooter could even carry a rifle on a motorcycle if the rifle is placed longways and disguised as something else. They could have it running along the seat lengthwise. Or just a handgun in certain cases too.

 

[Forager]

I was Googling, last night, for random highway shootings when I came across this piece, U.S. Shooting Deaths Since Sandy Hook Top 100, in the Huffington Post, by Jason Cherkis from 12/21/12:

"This week, as mourners gathered in Newtown, Conn., to bury Sandy Hook Elementary's dead, and a nation renewed its debate over guns, the shootings did not stop. The Huffington Post spent the week tracking gun-related homicides and accidents throughout the U.S., logging more than 100 from Google and Nexis searches. This is by no means a definitive tally. In 2010, there were more than twice that many homicides alone in an average week."

Sound familiar? I've been getting my data from Google searches, and sometimes wondering whether the rise I've been seeing in nationwide incidents of random highway shootings has something to do with the way I've been searching for them. How well did the Huffington Post do? They were reporting "more than twice that many homicides alone in an average week" (so an increase of more than 100%.) The real numbers for 2010, since released by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), only show a slight decrease in homicides in 2010.

Why the difference between what the Huffington Post was seeing in the news, and what was really happening? Were they missing a greater proportion of older reports than newer ones? Had there been in increase in the likely hood that a homicide would get reported in 2010 as compared to 2009? Were they kidding themselves into seeing the story they wanted to see?

I'm asking myself the same questions about my work, and not coming up with solid answers. Take my numbers with a grain of salt, please, until I understand them better.

 

[Hatfield]

I was Googling, last night, for random highway shootings when I came across this piece, U.S. Shooting Deaths Since Sandy Hook Top 100, in the Huffington Post, by Jason Cherkis from 12/21/12:

"This week, as mourners gathered in Newtown, Conn., to bury Sandy Hook Elementary's dead, and a nation renewed its debate over guns, the shootings did not stop. The Huffington Post spent the week tracking gun-related homicides and accidents throughout the U.S., logging more than 100 from Google and Nexis searches. This is by no means a definitive tally. In 2010, there were more than twice that many homicides alone in an average week."

Sound familiar? I've been getting my data from Google searches, and sometimes wondering whether the rise I've been seeing in nationwide incidents of random highway shootings has something to do with the way I've been searching for them. How well did the Huffington Post do? They were reporting "more than twice that many homicides alone in an average week" (so an increase of more than 100%.) The real numbers for 2010, since released by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), only show a slight decrease in homicides in 2010.

Why the difference between what the Huffington Post was seeing in the news, and what was really happening? Were they missing a greater proportion of older reports than newer ones? Had there been in increase in the likely hood that a homicide would get reported in 2010 as compared to 2009? Were they kidding themselves into seeing the story they wanted to see?

I'm asking myself the same questions about my work, and not coming up with solid answers. Take my numbers with a grain of salt, please, until I understand them better.

The analysis done to-date is excellent for this thread. Sure, we may have included some that may have been explainable but I think there are certain things that have shown us that at one time there was very frequent incidents going on and now they have tapered off and practically have stopped.

Certain things about the data that we collected is undeniable:

-There were 2 and maybe even 3 people killed and linked by LE to a random shooter

-At the time of the killings, there were road window shatterings going on in very frequent numbers.

-The road window shatterings were very frequent and concentrated on certain roads/areas

-Some of the window shatterings were obviously from projectiles since the broken window showed the impact point.

-A LOT of the window shatterings were SIDE driver and passenger windows and I think this is an indication that most were not road debri since I would think road debris is not as likely to break a side window. It seems to me road debris would be more likely to hit front windshields.

-The incidents have tapered off and almost stopped. Another sign that something was happening and something has caused it to almost stop. Maybe someone was jailed for other reasons or maybe they moved out of area. Or maybe they realized the heat was on them too much.

All these types of signs showed us that something very mysterious was happening and we have not seen an explanation yet in the news. The killers of the 2/3 people who were killed have not been caught by LE from what we know.

The good news is the incidents have tapered off and almost stopped. So I think just being vigilant and paying attention to the news reports is about all we can do. If any more incidents start to happen I think they will be obvious to us.

Hopefully news reporters will be on the lookout for future incidents too. Hopefully they will report on them if they tie in with past random highway window shatterings.

 

[Hatfield]

What date was the last known highway window incident where we can definitely say a projectile broke the glass?

Im trying to determine the last date that we can say for sure was a projectile shot at a vehicle.
Trying to see if that date gives us any hints at anything.

ETA: I think I have it listed in a post further below unless someone spots a more recent one than 9/10 on our great map. FYI the map is always linked on the 1st page of our threads.
Thanks to Forager and everyone else here who has done such great research.

 

[Hatfield]

In looking at the great map Forager put together I found a couple that are more recent than I thought. 8/27 + 8/31

And get a load of LE saying this one is not related on 8/27. WTH? I will never believe them anymore about any of them not being related because in this case, we have a witness saying a guy pulled out a gun of some sort and shot their window and then LE says it is not related. LOL

That to me is relate to other car window shatterings in my book. We already talked about the possibility of multiple shooters. Any window shattering where we suspect a shooter is shooting something at cars is related in my book. LOL
Maybe they meant not related to the 2 killings but they need to make themselves clear what the heck they are talking about when they say not related.


https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=z_XRj_yu3Dto.kzPJOvnNDQio

"Erie Police said it was a BB or pellet gun that damaged Roselee Vialpando's front windshield on Hwy. 52 near Co. Rd. 3 on Wed. afternoon 8/27/15. "...A male passenger in a white pickup truck who was driving in front of her, pulled himself out of the window and pulled out a gun." Erie officials did notify the Larimer County Sheriff's Office task force in charge of investigating the other shootings, but they do not believe this incident is connected"

 

[Hatfield]

I think this 9/10 incident may be the last confirmed random shooting from the map we have. Unless someone spots a more recent one on the map.

"A driver's window was "confirmed shot out" on I-225, northbound, early near S. Yosemite St. "sometime before 3:45" on Thurs. (9/10/15) morning"

" "Appears random" says Denver PD. CBS4 Denver,"

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=z_XRj_yu3Dto.kzPJOvnNDQio

This map is incredible. Thanks Forager and everyone else here who has done such amazing work.

 

[Hatfield]

Sorry so many posts in a row but just wanted to point out that I think we can put to rest the theory that LE tried to once convince us it was just road debri causing all these shattering incidents. Remember early on how they tried to shove that theory on us.

In the above 8/27 incident we have a witness actually seeing the guy hanging out the window shooting a gun at them. And in the 9/10 incident we have the article saying "confirmed shot out". And we also had LE looking for an old orange truck at one point.

And most importantly, we have many pictures now of the broken windows that show a projectile hole that only a typical bullet OR Pellet OR BB type projectile would cause. Rocks and Road debris typically will not leave a NICE CLEAN ROUND HOLE like what we have seen in the many pictures. There are even a couple that show the stress fractures going in all directions away from a central small point.

Sure, maybe a select few of the incidents could be road debris but that is not what we are referring to in these NOCO window shatterings or this thread. We are referring to the MANY incidents where we now know it was NOT road debri at all. Some perp or perps were causing these.

 

[DeDee]

Have the CO shootings been determined conclusively unrelated to the AZ shootings? AZ shootings began on Aug 9, 2015

911 call - Eleven incidents in twelve days
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/911-calls-reveal-terrifying-moments-phoenix-cars-shot-33994467

911 call - Terrified drivers
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/highway-sniper-11-incidents-shootings-11-days-phoenix-33644711

Sept 10 - $11,000 reward
http://denver.cbslocal.com/2015/09/10/car-windshield-shatters-on-i-225-1-treated-for-minor-injuries/

Sept 11 - News Conference
http://www.azcentral.com/story/news...rrests-made-after-vehicle-shootings/72211590/

 

[Hatfield]

Have the CO shootings been determined conclusively unrelated to the AZ shootings? AZ shootings began on Aug 9, 2015

911 call - Eleven incidents in twelve days
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/911-calls-reveal-terrifying-moments-phoenix-cars-shot-33994467

911 call - Terrified drivers
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/highway-sniper-11-incidents-shootings-11-days-phoenix-33644711

Sept 10 - $11,000 reward
http://denver.cbslocal.com/2015/09/10/car-windshield-shatters-on-i-225-1-treated-for-minor-injuries/

Sept 11 - News Conference
http://www.azcentral.com/story/news...rrests-made-after-vehicle-shootings/72211590/

Good question.
I don't think anything is conclusive about that question yet and I was wondering too if maybe they could be related in some way.

Both in AZ and in CO there is a chance multiple shooters could be involved in at least some of the shootings. So it is possible that someone that was doing some of the shootings in CO ended up traveling to AZ and maybe committed some of the shootings there.

The 1 guy they arrested in AZ has claimed his innocence of course like most criminals always say they didn't do it. But even if he is found guilty of some of the AZ shootings there was some AZ incidents that maybe was committed by another shooter.

So IMO I do think a possibility exists that a person could have done shootings in both CO and AZ.

The other question that could relate the 2 states is a question of motive. If the motive is found to be terrorist type motive then that could be a link as well.

The 3 main motive possibilities that I can think of for these shootings are:
1-terrorist related to cause fear and disruption
2-angry "punks" acting out against society. And not necessarily young punks. Could be older punks or just plain "lost souls" that are acting out.
3-gang related in some way. Gangs are notorious for drive by shootings, random shootings, and lots of other types of shootings so thinking this could be a NEW extension of gang activity. Maybe a new form of initiation rights or something crazy like that.

Even if the people committing the crimes in the 2 states are totally different then maybe the motive could be the same.

 

[FindHG]

Arizona freeway shootings: One month since first shooting, where does the investigation stand?
Joe Bartels, Josh Frigerio, ABC15
2:10 PM, Sep 29, 2015
1 hour ago

Nineteen-year-old Oscar de la Torre Munoz was detained by Arizona Department of Public Safety troopers on Sept. 11 and held behind bars for a week on an unrelated marijuana charge before being released by court order after officials failed to submit proper charging documents.

[... LE states that he was]

never officially called a suspect, only a “person of interest” and that he has not been ruled out of the investigation.

Interesting, that he still hasn't been cleared completely.

 

[Forager]

Good question.
I don't think anything is conclusive about that question yet and I was wondering too if maybe they could be related in some way.

Both in AZ and in CO there is a chance multiple shooters could be involved in at least some of the shootings. So it is possible that someone that was doing some of the shootings in CO ended up traveling to AZ and maybe committed some of the shootings there.

The 1 guy they arrested in AZ has claimed his innocence of course like most criminals always say they didn't do it. But even if he is found guilty of some of the AZ shootings there was some AZ incidents that maybe was committed by another shooter.

So IMO I do think a possibility exists that a person could have done shootings in both CO and AZ.

The other question that could relate the 2 states is a question of motive. If the motive is found to be terrorist type motive then that could be a link as well.

The 3 main motive possibilities that I can think of for these shootings are:
1-terrorist related to cause fear and disruption
2-angry "punks" acting out against society. And not necessarily young punks. Could be older punks or just plain "lost souls" that are acting out.
3-gang related in some way. Gangs are notorious for drive by shootings, random shootings, and lots of other types of shootings so thinking this could be a NEW extension of gang activity. Maybe a new form of initiation rights or something crazy like that.

Even if the people committing the crimes in the 2 states are totally different then maybe the motive could be the same.

Good analysis. I'm with you except for the last line about gangs. I have come across highway shootings that appear to by urban gangst' types who operate as gangs at some level, but I haven't ever seen one tied to an actual named gang and they were never random or tied to an initiation. My guess is that a true urban gang would have the collective wisdom to know that it's hard to attack someone in a moving car. Gangs do "drive-by", but not "drive-alongside".

 

[Forager]

What date was the last known highway window incident where we can definitely say a projectile broke the glass?

Im trying to determine the last date that we can say for sure was a projectile shot at a vehicle.
Trying to see if that date gives us any hints at anything.

ETA: I think I have it listed in a post further below unless someone spots a more recent one than 9/10 on our great map. FYI the map is always linked on the 1st page of our threads.
Thanks to Forager and everyone else here who has done such great research.

Thank you, indeed, Hatfield, for the kind words. Yes, the last incident report that we have was from almost three weeks ago:

A driver's window was shot out on I-225 early near S. Yosemite St., south of Denver on Thurs. (9/10/15) morning. "... police confirmed they found evidence that several rounds were fired at the vehicle." Blair Schiff, KUSA

I can't tell whether that means the shootings have stopped, or aren't being reported, or are being reported and we aren't recognizing them. That 9/10/15 incident was south of Denver, where there had been a long series of suspicious and window shatterings in 2013 and at least eight in June thru August of 2015. They haven't gotten much coverage, and we don't have much detail on them.

There were two cases of parking lot shootings, one fatal, within a mile and a half of one another in Aurora in the wee hours of Sunday morning. Were either or both a William Connole style attack on a random pedestrian? I'm not sure we'll ever know. A few quick reports came out, with the usual confusion and errors of initial reports. No suspects or motives known. The police are quoted by one story as saying that the incidents are related, and another that they are not. And that was it for follow-up, at least for now. I've mapped them, as in the screen shot below, but have put them in the "Disused Markers" layer until we get more on them.





Aurora police: Sunday overnight shootings are connected
Man found wounded in parking lot later died, and a second victim called 911 from another location

By Tom McGhee
The Denver Post

 

[Hatfield]

Thank you, indeed, Hatfield, for the kind words. Yes, the last incident report that we have was from almost three weeks ago:

A driver's window was shot out on I-225 early near S. Yosemite St., south of Denver on Thurs. (9/10/15) morning. "... police confirmed they found evidence that several rounds were fired at the vehicle." Blair Schiff, KUSA

I can't tell whether that means the shootings have stopped, or aren't being reported, or are being reported and we aren't recognizing them. That 9/10/15 incident was south of Denver, where there had been a long series of suspicious and window shatterings in 2013 and at least eight in June thru August of 2015. They haven't gotten much coverage, and we don't have much detail on them.

There were two cases of parking lot shootings, one fatal, within a mile and a half of one another in Aurora in the wee hours of Sunday morning. Were either or both a William Connole style attack on a random pedestrian? I'm not sure we'll ever know. A few quick reports came out, with the usual confusion and errors of initial reports. No suspects or motives known. The police are quoted by one story as saying that the incidents are related, and another that they are not. And that was it for follow-up, at least for now. I've mapped them, as in the screen shot below, but have put them in the "Disused Markers" layer until we get more on them.

View attachment 82348

View attachment 82349

Aurora police: Sunday overnight shootings are connected
Man found wounded in parking lot later died, and a second victim called 911 from another location

By Tom McGhee
The Denver Post

Yeah, I wish more details could have been provided for those last 2 shootings in Aurora.

The "layers" on the maps are GREAT and to help everyone understand how to use them.....all you have to do is click the layer where there is a checkmark and you can remove certain layers if you only want to view certain layer categories at a time. You can keep 1 or 2 or 3, etc layers on the map as you view the map. So you get to control what categories you want to view at one time which is very helpful.

I found the layers and categories were designed PERFECTLY.

I think those last 2 shootings are in a good layer category for now.
One was said to be in apartment parking lot very early in the morning and around where I live whenever we hear of an apartment lot shooting at that hour of morning, LE typically will rule those as drug deal gone wrong or some sort of attempted robbery.

 

[Forager]

Off topic but s/b of interest to CO sleuthers:

Mike Yost, OutFront, 9/30/15, WEBSITE SPOTLIGHTS COLORADO’S COPIOUS COLD CASES

The link to the CBI cold case site in the story is broken. Here's one that works:

https://www.colorado.gov/apps/coldcase/index.html

 

[Forager]

Police: 5 new roadway shootings in southwest Michigan
Trace Christenson, Battle Creek Enquirer 2:12 p.m. EDT October 1, 2015

... a window was shattered in a vehicle on M-66 near O Drive South about 4:30 p.m. Thursday. “That does appear to be from a firearm,” [Calhoun County Sheriff Matt Saxton said.]

A second driver reported a window was shattered in a vehicle on M-66 near Morgan Road in Pennfield Township north of Battle Creek [at about 4:00 PM the same day].

Saxton said he has just learned that Eaton County is investigating three incidents in the last week or so, including one on M-78 near the Calhoun County line.

[There had been an earlier window shattering in Eaton County on Sept. 3rd, 2015, and twenty in Calhoun County between 7/29/15 and 9/4/15. No serious injuries in any incident so far.]

 

[Forager]

I've done some housekeeping on the Case Map.

I've moved the "Hwy. Shootings Clusters" layer out of the case map and into its own "Road Shooting Clusters" map.

I've made a copy of the case map including the N.Scheiern layer to a new map (NOCO Hwy Shootings w Scheiern at 10_1_15), and deleted that layer from the case map, leaving one marker at NS's last address to summarize his story and provide links to MSM source stories about him.