Multiple charges possible in shooting
Police want to identify others in Walmart
BRIGHTON, Colo. — A Colorado sheet metal worker could face multiple charges, including attempted murder, in addition to first-degree murder charges related to the shooting deaths of three people inside a Walmart, a prosecutor said Friday.
Adams County District Attorney Dave Young said the additional possible charges are being considered because of the presence of dozens of people inside the suburban Denver store when Scott Ostrem allegedly walked in and opened fire Wednesday.
“There’s going to be several counts of attempted murder, and we’re talking about many, many people,” Young said after Ostrem made his first court appearance since the shootings. “We’re not talking three or four people. And we’ve got to identify those individuals. They’re victims of a crime.”
Ostrem, 47, is being held without bond on suspicion of first-degree murder, a charge that can lead to life without parole or a death sentence. Young declined to say whether he will seek the death penalty in the case. Prosecutors are expected to formally file charges Monday.
Young also declined to comment when asked by reporters about a motive for the shooting and whether authorities were considering hate crime charges. The three victims were Latino. Ostrem is white.
Ostrem is accused of walking into the Walmart in Thornton, a large blue-collar suburb about 10 miles north of Denver, and fatally shooting two men and a woman. He was arrested Thursday after a brief car chase near his apartment, which is located about 5 miles from the store.
At Friday’s hearing, Ostrem wore a light blue paper jumpsuit, zipped up the front, and plastic orange slides on his feet.
His hands were chained together at his waist, with a thick chain wrapped around his back. He appeared to listen closely to the judge, leaning slightly forward in his chair placed between two public defenders and responding “yes” in a clear voice when asked if he understood his rights.
Deputy Mike Kaiser, a spokesman for the Adams County sheriff, said the paper jumpsuits are part of the jail’s mental health policies to prevent suicide. Any inmate who faces homicide charges wears the jumpsuit until he or she is placed in an appropriate housing unit at the jail, Kaiser said.
Young said he met with some of those family members and described them as “shattered.”
“They’re a mess,” he said. “They probably listened to about half the things I told them because they’re still in shock.”
Killed were Pamela Marques, 52, a mother and grandmother from Denver; Carlos Moreno, 66, a grandfather and maintenance worker from Thornton; and Victor Vasquez, 26, of Denver, who had two young daughters and a third child on the way, according to a Gofundme page set up to collect donations.