3 dead after attack at Wyo. community college

Police have confirmed that three people are dead following what appears to be a murder-suicide at Casper College.

All three people died after sustaining wounds from “sharp-edged weapons,” according to Casper Police Chief Chris Walsh via a televised press conference.

Walsh would not confirm reports that circulated via social media that the weapon was a bow and arrow. But he did say that there was no firearm used in the attacks.

Casper Police Chief Walsh says a man wielding a sharp-edged weapon killed one person in a Casper neighborhood Friday morning before going to the nearby Casper College campus. The man entered a classroom in a science building and killed a teacher, then himself, in front of students.

Thirty-three of Walsh’s officers responded to simultaneous calls just after 9 a.m. Friday morning of people dead in the city. They found a woman dead in the 3700 block of Hawthorne Street.

They found another crime scene on the third floor of the Wold Physical Science Center at Casper College.

At that location, officers found one man dead in a classroom. The Casper Star Tribune reports that that man was a member of the school’s faculty.

The suspect, another man, who was not a student at the school, committed suicide nearby.

“This is a terrible day,” Walsh said. “A day you hope never comes to your community.”

He went on to say that his officers are trying to determine the rest of the details of the crime. They also are trying to formally notify the victims’ families, he said.

“We are locating next of kin,” he said, adding that some of the victims’ relatives already may have informally been notified via social media reports. “This is a horrible tragedy.”

Walsh explained that there was a relationship between the three people, but wouldn’t elaborate.

He also explained that there was no clear motive for the attacks.

A lockdown both at the college and Natrona County schools has been lifted, and Walsh explained that there no longer is a threat.

“There is no one at large,” Walsh said.