Is fatal Colo. shooting tied to two other attacks?
LOVELAND, Colo. -- Authorities are investigating whether the killing of a 65-year-old man in Loveland is connected with two other shootings in northern Colorado.
A man was found lying on a sidewalk bleeding after being shot Wednesday night in the city about 50 miles north of Denver. Police say they were unable to save him.
About 15 miles away, a bicyclist was shot to death in the city of Windsor two weeks earlier on May 18, and a woman driving on nearby Interstate 25 was shot in the neck April 22 but survived. Police have connected those two cases, but have not said how.
"I don't think it's fair that people should have to go out and fear for their lives when, you know, they're driving to work," Cori Romero, the victim who was shot in the neck, told the CBS Evening News.
The cyclist, 48-year-old John Jacoby, was involved in so many community activities, people there called him the unofficial mayor of Windsor, the Evening News reported.
There also have been a string of broken vehicle windows reported by drivers in northern Colorado since the I-25 shooting. But investigators so far have not found proof of gunshots in those cases.
Police have not released the Loveland murder victim's name, but family and neighbors identified him as William Connole, a cancer survivor who often took late-night walks through his quiet neighborhood.
Sadie Rogers, 15, said her grandfather worked for years in the computer industry before taking a job at Home Depot. She said the nighttime walks helped him sleep after work. Even when he had cancer, Connole would come to her softball games, she said.
"He just did everything for everyone he could," Rogers said.
Neighbor Russell Harmon said it seems like the three shootings could be linked.
"I've got two children and a wife, and I don't want to be outside playing with my kids, you know, they're riding bikes or something down the sidewalk and somebody come by and shoot me or them," he said.
Police said Thursday detectives are consulting with members of a task force to see if the latest shooting is tied to the other two.
"Right now, it's still early," Loveland police Sgt. Mike Halloran said. "We don't have enough information to show there is a link, and we don't have enough information to show there isn't a link."
On Thursday, Windsor police Lt. Rick Klimek said tips are pouring in about the cyclist shooting but so far have led to no substantial leads.
"They're all going into a database to see what, if anything, fits together," he said. The tips have included everything from years-old shootings to suspicious vehicles. Investigators check each one.
"People are just hypersensitive now to their surroundings," Klimek said.
If the cases are the work of a serial shooter, he or she likely has no connection to the victims or any particular target, said Eric Hickey, dean of the California School of Forensic Studies who has studied serial killers. The victims are "proxies for his anger and whatever he's angry about," he said, speaking generally.
"He'll make mistakes," Hickey said "They always do."
A $10,000 reward is being offered for information in the first two unsolved shootings. Anyone with information is asked to call the Loveland Police Department Tip Line at 970-962-2032.