Fort Collins – A man suspected of killing his business neighbor before committing suicide fired shots at the man from a 4-inch-square hole cut near the ceiling between their two units, authorities said Tuesday.
Matthew Gulakowski, 35, who operated Pro Formance Creations, a custom woodworking shop in Mulberry Commercial Park, 2649 E. Mulberry St., died after being shot six times Monday with a .357-caliber Ruger. Investigators found the suspect, Barry Jay Shebs, 45, dead in the unit next to Gulakowski’s and found the hole.
“Investigators believe this explains why witnesses had seen the shooting but not the suspect,” Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden said in a statement.
Shebs had been living in a camper in his unit and had complained about fumes from Gulakowski’s business. Poudre fire authorities responded to a similar call days earlier, and the health department had referred the matter to the sheriff’s department.
Alderden said they were unable to find any evidence of “medically diagnosed issues.”
The commercial park is located along Colorado 14, west of Interstate 25, a busy corridor into Fort Collins.
