Walmart shoppers who reached for their firearms when shots broke out inside a Colorado superstore on Wednesday night made it difficult for police to immediately identify the gunman.
A man nonchalantly walked into the southern entrance of the Thornton store around 6:30 p.m. and fatally shot three victims before fleeing in a red Mitsubishi, according to police.
While many of the customers screamed and ran for the exits, police said “a few” people drew their handguns in response — adding to the confusion when investigators began reviewing surveillance footage from inside the store, the Denver Post reported.
People watch an ambulance leave at the scene of the shooting.
(RICK WILKING/REUTERS)“At that point, as soon as you see (someone pull out their gun on the surveillance video), that’s the one you try to trace through the store, only to maybe find out that’s not him, and we’re back to ground zero again, starting to look again. That’s what led to the extended time,” Avila explained.
It wasn’t until five hours later that police identified the suspect as Scott Ostrem, 47, who was arrested Thursday after a brief chase.
Police reviewed surveillance footage for several hours before they identified the suspect as Scott Ostrem, 47, who was arrested Thursday after a brief chase.
(Thornton Police Dept./AP)Ostrem, who is accused of killing Pamela Marques, 52, Carlos Moreno, 66, and Victor Vasquez, 26, inexplicably left his work station at a metal fabrication shop earlier Wednesday.
Police offered no possible motive for the shooting other than to say there was nothing to suggest it was related to terrorism.
(Left to right) Carlos Moreno, 66, of Thornton, Pamela Marques, 52, of Denver, and Victor Vasquez, 26, of Denver, a father of two girls, were all shot to death in the Walmart shooting.
(Auraria Higher Education Center )Ostrem had minor run-ins with police dating back to the 1990s, including a December 1999 charge of resisting arrest in Denver that was dismissed the following year.
In September 2015, Ostrem filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and listed his income for the previous year as $47,028.00. He estimated that he owed more than $85,000, including credit card debt.
With News Wire Services
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