Alleged Walmart shooter to be charged with murder Monday

Scott Ostrem, accused of gunning down three people inside a Walmart Supercenter in Thornton, will be charged Monday afternoon.

During a hearing Friday morning in Adams County District Court, Ostrem’s first appearance in court, District Attorney Dave Young asked the judge to delay filing charges until Wednesday afternoon to allow Thornton police to prepare their case.

Young said the case is complex, with hundreds of potential victims in addition to the three people who died after being shot in the store Wednesday evening.

“There are going to be multiple counts,” Young said. “We want to make sure the charges are complete and proper to file with the court.”

But public defender Emily Fleischmann said Ostrem is entitled to have charges filed within 72 hours. “An affidavit has been filed. The facts are evident and the charges are evident.”

Fleischmann also asked the court to order law enforcement to re-seize the crime scene so her investigators can get access to the Walmart store to look for “anything left of evidentiary value.”

“Walmart is not allowing access to the scene at all,” she said.

Young said law enforcement has completed its investigation of the crime scene and released the store back to Walmart. “We don’t have control over Walmart.”

“Walmart has not reopened to the public,” Fleischmann said. “We are concerned about destruction of evidence.”

But Judge Ted C. Tow said he had no authority over Walmart or the authority to retake the store. “Request is denied.”

The Adams County courtroom was filled with family members grieving the deaths of 52-year-old Pamela Marques, of Denver; 66-year-old Carlos Moreno, of Thornton; and 26-year-old Victor Vasquez, of Denver.

Ostrem is being held without bond on suspicion of murder charges at the Adams County Detention Center. Court records show an arrest warrant for three charges of first-degree murder – deliberation was issued Thursday.

He was booked in the jail at 11:57 a.m. Thursday, Adams County Sheriff’s Office records show.

Ostrem, 47, was apprehended around 8 a.m. Thursday at the intersection of 72nd Avenue and Federal Boulevard in Westminster. He was stopped in rush-hour traffic in his red Mitsubishi Mirage.

He was identified as a suspect after police spent hours immediately after the shooting reviewing footage from security cameras inside the store and the Thornton Town Center parking lot.

Ostrem had walked off his job as a metal fabricator on Wednesday morning.

Joe Amon, The Denver Post
The Fobb family Angelique 13, Jason Fobb, Destiney 9, Marlena Fobb. Marlena Fobb is hugged by her daughter Destiney 9, as she tells her story of being in the check-out line with her husband Jason next to a man that was shot and killed in the shooting at Walmart in Thornton. "He saved my life, she said, talking of her husband, If he hadn't of threw me to the ground we were gone."
Thornton Police Department
Scott Ostrem
Wheat Ridge Police Department
Scott Ostrem in 2013
Wheat Ridge Police Department
Scott Ostrem in 2014
John Leyba, The Denver Post
Rochelle Ginsner holds her daughter Danielle Carey, 16, an employee, after they were released from the parking lot at Walmart after a shooting at the store on Nov. 1, 2017.
Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post
Walmart employees and customers head away from the scene outside of the Walmart store where a shooting occurred inside the store at 9901 Grant Street on Nov. 1, 2017 in Thornton.
AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post
Darlene Jackson sits on an overturned shopping cart as she and fellow shoppers and employees gather outside after a gunman opened fire near the Halloween section of Walmart at 99th and Grant Street in Thornton on Nov. 1, 2017.
AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post
Employees Jose Delgado and Alexandra Adams stand outside after a gunman opened fire near the Halloween section of Walmart at 99th and Grant Street in Thornton on Nov. 1, 2017.
Joe Amon, The Denver Post
Police at shooting in Walmart on Nov. 1, 2017 in Thornton.
RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post
Witnesses walk from a bus to Thornton Civic Center after two men were killed during a shooting inside the Walmart Super Center iNovember 1, 2017 in Thornton.
John Leyba, The Denver Post
Family and friends wait on a hill to hear word from their loved ones as emergency crews and police patrol the grounds of the Walmart after a shooting at the store on Nov. 1, 2017
Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post
A father and son, who were customers inside Walmart, are escorted out of the parking lot and away from the scene of the Walmart store where a shooting occurred inside the store at 9901 Grant Street on Nov. 1, 2017 in Thornton.
Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post
Employees gather together outside away from the scene outside of the Walmart store where a shooting occurred inside the store at 9901 Grant Street on November 1, 2017 in Thornton, Colorado. Two people were killed and one taken to the hospital after a shooting that started just around 6:00pm.
Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post
Police officers help a disabled man leave the parking lot outside of the Walmart store where a shooting occurred at 9901 Grant Street on Nov. 1, 2017 in Thornton.
AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post
A Thornton police officer gives instructions to people as they stand outside after a gunman opened fire near the Halloween section of Walmart at 99th and Grant Street in Thornton on Nov. 1, 2017.
Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post
Walmart employees and customers that were inside the store wait to hear what to do from police as they stand behind police tape outside of the Walmart store where a shooting occurred Nov. 1, 2017 in Thornton.
Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post
Walmart employees and customers head away from the scene outside of the Walmart store where a shooting occurred on Nov. 1, 2017 in Thornton.
AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post
A Thornton police officer watches as people are instructed to leave the parking lot after a gunman opened fire near the Halloween section of Walmart at 99th and Grant Street in Thornton.
AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post
People stand outside after a gunman opened fire near the Halloween section of Walmart at 99th and Grant Street in Thornton on Nov. 1, 2017.
AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post
Employees exit the parking lot after a gunman opened fire near the Halloween section of Walmart at 99th and Grant Street in Thornton on Nov. 1, 2017.
AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post
People stand outside after a gunman opened fire near the Halloween section of Walmart at 99th and Grant Street in Thornton on Nov. 1, 2017.
John Leyba, The Denver Post
Employees and shoppers are released from a holding area in the Walmart lot. Emergency crews and police on the grounds of the Walmart in Thornton on Nov. 1, 2017 during a shooting.
AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post
A man in a Rascal is helped out of the parking lot as shoppers and employees gather outside after a gunman opened fire near the Halloween section of Walmart at 99th and Grant Street in Thornton.
Andy Cross, The Denver Post
Bystanders on a hill at 98th and Grant across the street from a shooting investigation at a Walmart in Thornton on Nov. 1, 2017.
Andy Cross, The Denver Post
Police investigate the scene of a fatal shooting at the Walmart in Thornton on Nov. 1, 2017.
AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post
People are escorted out after a gunman opened fire near the Halloween section of Walmart at 99th and Grant Street in Thornton on Nov. 1, 2017.
Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post
Onlookers watch police activity at the scene of a shooting inside the Walmart at 9901 Grant Street on Nov. 1, 2017 in Thornton.
Joe Amon, The Denver Post
Police investigate the scene of a fatal shooting at the Walmart in Thornton on Nov. 1, 2017.
Joe Amon, The Denver Post
Police investigate the scene of a fatal shooting at the Walmart in Thornton on Nov. 1, 2017.
Joe Amon, The Denver Post
Police investigate the scene of a fatal shooting at the Walmart in Thornton on Nov. 1, 2017.
Joe Amon, The Denver Post
Police investigate the scene of a fatal shooting at the Walmart Super Center in Thornton on Nov. 1, 2017.
Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post
A young girl walks through the parking lot away from the scene outside of the Walmart store where a shooting occurred on Nov. 1, 2017 in Thornton.
Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post
A father and his scared daughter, who were customers inside Walmart, are escorted out of the parking lot and away from the scene of the Walmart store where a shooting occurred on Nov. 1, 2017 in Thornton.
Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post
THORNTON, CO - OCTOBER 1 - A father and his scared daughter, who were customers inside Walmart, are escorted out of the parking lot and away from the scene of the Walmart store where a shooting occurred on November 1, 2017 in Thornton, Colorado. Two people were killed and one taken to the hospital after a shooting that started just around 6:00pm.
John Leyba, The Denver Post
Adams County Sheriff on the grounds of the Walmart in Thornton on Nov. 1, 2017 talking to witnesses after a shooting inside the store.
John Leyba, The Denver Post
People are taken away from the Walmart on a bus on Nov. 1, 2017 in Thornton after a shooting inside the store.
Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post
Police guard the front entrance to Walmart where a shooting occurred inside the store at 9901 Grant Street on Nov. 1, 2017 in Thornton.