FORT COLLINS, Colo. —Is the Northern Colorado shooter responsible for a seemingly random string of deadly attacks in 2015 finally behind bars?
Court records obtained by Denver7 show Christopher Parker, 35, of Loveland was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder charges. He appeared in a Larimer County courtroom Wednesday.
Some reports have directly linked Parker to the 2015 shootings, though Larimer County authorities have so far declined to confirm a connection and plan to share more information about the case during a news conference scheduled for Thursday.
However, a family member of one of the victims, William Connole, told Denver7 they had been told that an arrest was made in Connole's death. Court records show Parker's charges are connected to the same day that Connole was killed, and there is no record of any other murders in Loveland that day.
The 2015 shootings had residents gripped in fear and authorities baffled. Two people were killed, and one woman was seriously injured during three separate set of attacks.
A task force was formed, and investigators quickly linked the three pairs of shootings forensically, but weren't able to connect all six incidents to each other.
Shootings No. 1 and No. 2: On April 22, 2015, Milliken resident Cori Romero was shot in the neck while driving on Interstate 25 near Harmony Road. She survived her injuries. About a month later on May 18 of that year, John Jacoby, 48, was gunned down while riding his bike north of Windsor on County Road 15, just south of County Road 72.
Shootings No. 3 and No. 4: On June 3, a motorcyclist was shot while riding in Loveland. The rider was not injured. Fifteen minutes later, Connole was shot and killed while standing at a Loveland intersection.
Shootings No. 5 and No. 6: On Sunday, September 13 two buildings were hit by gunfire in Fort Collins. In shooting No. 5, the Banner Fort Collins Medical Center on Lady Moon Drive reported that its building was struck by gunfire. There were people inside, but no one was hurt. Shooting No. 6 happened at Cottonwood Plains Elementary School on Turman Drive. No one was at the school at the time and no one was hurt.
A suspect or person of interest was never identified during the course of the investigation. If Tuesday’s arrest is confirmed, it would mean the first major break in the case in nearly three years.
