DENVER—Colorado Springs police are still trying to determine the motives and the identities of some of the victims involved in three unrelated shootings that left four people dead and two others wounded on Wednesday.
Police Sgt. Steven Noblitt said Friday that police have theories on what led to the shootings, but the investigation continues.
Three teenagers were killed in one shooting. A man was killed and one person was injured in another. In the third incident, police shot and critically wounded a 21-year-old man after a domestic disturbance.
All the deaths came Wednesday night.
Noblitt said police are hunting two suspects in the two fatal shootings, warning the public that the men are considered armed and dangerous.
The three teens were killed in central Colorado Springs. When police arrived, two were dead and one was wounded. The injured teen died later at a hospital.
Police said the victims were Wayne Fix, 19, his brother Aaron, 16, and Austin Howse, 16.
Noblitt said it appears there was a disturbance somewhere else and the three teens drove to the neighborhood where the suspect lived. The suspect was identified as Michael Arangio, 24, of Colorado Springs.
“It was not random,” Noblitt said.
Police said Friday they had found Arangio’s SUV just west of the town of Monument, about 15 miles north of Colorado Springs.
Austin Howse and Aaron Fix were boyhood friends who were attending different high schools, said Austin’s mother, Sharon Howse.
She told the Colorado Springs Gazette her son was a good boy who was never in trouble.
“He was never afraid to kiss his mom and dad in front of his friends. We don’t have any idea why this would happen to him,” she said.
Earlier in the evening, one man was found dead in the parking lot of an AutoZone store in eastern Colorado Springs and another person was found wounded inside the store.
Noblitt said police suspect the shooting occurred as part of a car theft or robbery gone wrong.
Police said the shooter carjacked a vehicle, shot the driver and took a man hostage, later releasing him unharmed.
Noblitt said the wounded person was recovering and police were still trying to positively identify the dead man. Neither person’s name was released.
Noblitt said the suspect in the AutoZone shootings uses two names and ages: Ernest Schmidt, 60, and Edward Coffey, 47. A warrant was issued for his arrest on murder, attempted murder, kidnapping and robbery charges.
Police said when the man was booked into the jail previously, he used the name Schmidt, but now they aren’t sure of his real name.
Also Wednesday, police officers shot and wounded Robert Cole after he allegedly pointed a handgun at them. Noblitt said Cole was hit twice and was in critical condition at a Colorado Springs hospital.
Noblitt said the officers were responding to the domestic disturbance report and contacted Cole in a parking lot. Cole ran into an apartment building, allegedly pointing his weapon at five officers.
Noblitt said three of the officers fired at Cole.
No officers were injured. The officers involved have been placed on paid leave while the shooting is investigated. Their names weren’t released.
Police say they recovered the handgun allegedly held by Cole.
