Birthday Celebrant Names the Victims in Colorado Springs Shooting
The birthday celebrant identified the victims of the recent Colorado Springs shooting that happened Sunday. At least seven deaths were discovered by the law enforcement officers when they arrived at the scene.
READ NEXT: Colorado Shooting Leaves 10 Dead, Including a Police Officer
Birthday Celebrant Names the Victims of the Shooting
The party where the shooting occurred was for three celebrants, including 28-year-old Nuvia Marquez's, as reported by The Gazette. Marquez shared that the party was a triple birthday celebration with her brother and their mother, who were both killed in the tragic incident. The brother, Melvin Perez, would have turned 31 this week. Joana Cruz, their mom, would have turned 54.
Nuvia Marquez attended the party with her husband, Freddy Marquez, and her children. Freddy Marquez said in USA Today that his family left at 10:00 p.m. because his wife had to work the next day.
The victims identified by Nuvia and Freddy Marquez were part of their family. Apart from Melvin Perez and Joana Cruz, Nuvia's other brother, Jose Gutierrez, also died in the incident, as well as Melvin's wife, Mayra Perez. Mayra's sister and brother, Sandra and Jose Ibarra, also lost their lives because of the shooting.
Freddy also identified the suspect as "Junior," Sandra Ibarra's boyfriend, New York Post reported. Freddy Marquez noted that he only met the gunman once, and they only knew him by his nickname. Marquez furthered that Junior was quiet and serious and that there was nothing "out of the ordinary" about him.
The suspect was reported to have arrived at the birthday party shortly after midnight. He fired shots at the victims then took his own life after.
The authorities have not yet identified the motive for the shooting. USA Today noted that a mobile crime lab was parked outside the residence, which was surrounded by police tape. By mid-afternoon, the police tape was removed.
A small table was set up in front of the residence, where mourners left devotional candles and yellow roses to pay their respects.
Colorado Springs Shootings
Colorado Springs Police Department historian Dwight Haverkorn noted that the recent incident is one of the deadliest mass murders in the history of Colorado Springs. Furthermore, the tragic incident in Colorado Springs comes after the boulder shooting inside a grocery store, killing at least ten people, including a police officer.
In 2015, ABC News noted that a police officer and two others were killed after an attack on a Planned Parenthood clinic. Eight other individuals wer injured in the incident. In 2007, a man killed two people and wounded three at a church in Colorado Springs. After which, he went on to shoot more people in Youth with a Mission Center in the suburb of Denver. Two more were killed and two others were injured.
Meanwhile, USA Today noted that in May alone, 25 mass shootings have been recorded across the U.S.
READ MORE: 17-Year-Old Suspect Arrested for Mass Shooting That Killed 5 People, Including Pregnant Woman
WATCH: 6 victims killed in shooting at Colorado Springs birthday party, suspect takes own life - from 9NEWS
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