Colorado massacre: Teodoro Macias killed Sandra Ibarra-Perez, 5 of her kin for not inviting him to birthday bash
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO: Colorado authorities have released the names of the victims who died during a weekend birthday party in the 2800 block of Preakness Way, Colorado Springs. The victims have been identified as the 30-year-old Melvin Perez, wife, Mayra Ibarra De Perez, 33, his 52-year-old mother Joana Cruz, and his brother, Jose Gutierrez, 21.
The other two victims of the suspect, Teodoro Macias, were identified as Mayra's siblings -- 28-year-old Sandra Ibarra-Perez, and Jose Ibarra, 26. It has been said Macias went on the shooting spree because he was upset for not being invited. He first killed his victims before taking his own life. Three kids -- ages 2, 5, and 11 -- were also present at the early Sunday morning, May 9, massacre scene, but they were not injured.
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According to reports, the 28-year-old Macias was romantically involved with Sandra and was said to be of a controlling and jealous nature. He had even attempted to cut her off from her family, police said. Police Chief Vince Niski stated, “At the core of this horrendous act is domestic violence. The suspect... displayed power and control issues in this relationship. When he wasn't invited to a family gathering, the suspect responded by opening fire and killing six victims.”
Authorities said that Macias, who went by the name 'Junior', had no past criminal records. Also, no protection orders were issued in his name at the time of the shooting. Even his neighbors spoke of him as a quiet man “who kept to himself”. One of his neighbors also mentioned that Sandra regularly used to come over to Macias’ place and stayed at night. The person added that the couple appeared to be happy together. “He's been there [in the house] for a minute – at least three or four years. He worked for a phone company. Most of the time I didn't even see him because he would come home at night, him and his girl,” the neighbor stated.
Meanwhile, regarding the weekend birthday party, where the shooting happened, it has been said that it was hosted at Joana’s house in Canterbury Mobile Home Park. Just after midnight Sunday, Macias arrived at the address and opened fire. From the scene, cops recovered a Smith and Wesson semi-automatic 9mm. handgun and two 15-round magazines, one of which was empty. They also found 17 spent shell casings.
It is not known yet how Macias got hold of the weapon. Police Lt Joe Frabbiele said the gun was bought seven years ago by someone from a local gun store. He added, “The suspect did not purchase the firearm during that transaction. This is the only listed transaction for this firearm. We're still investigating how and when the suspect came to possess the handgun.”
Besides, authorities have also requested people to take domestic violence seriously. Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers stated, “In Colorado, we’ve had domestic terrorism incidents where lots of people were killed, we’ve had random acts like going into a King Soopers or a movie theater, but let’s not forget about the lethality of domestic violence.”