Wednesday, September 4, 2024 - A man has been arrested in the fatal shooting of 21-year-old University of Wisconsin gymnast Kara Welsh in an apartment off campus.
Welsh, who won an individual national title on the vault for
the gymnastics team last year, was allegedly shot multiple times by a
23-year-old man at an apartment about a block from the university’s main campus
on Friday last week, police said on Monday, September 2.
Police have not released the name of the suspect, but they
said they believe she knew him even though the nature of their relationship was
not clear.
Police officers arrived just before midnight Friday and
found Welsh dead with multiple gunshot wounds.
“Also present in the apartment was a 23-year-old male who
was known to the deceased female,” the statement said.
“Through investigation, it was determined that leading up to
the shooting, an altercation had occurred between the two.”
The man was arrested and charged with first-degree
intentional homicide, endangering safety by the use of a dangerous weapon and
disorderly conduct while armed, the police said in another statement.
Welsh was almost at her senior year at the University
ofWisconsin-Whitewater, where she was majoring in management while also on the
school’s Warhawk gymnastics team.
University Chancellor Corey King announced Welsh’s death
over the weekend in a message to students and faculty.
“Kara Welsh, age 21, from Plainfield, Illinois, died in a
shooting off campus on Friday, Aug. 30, 2024,” he wrote.
“Kara was majoring in management in our College of Business
and Economics and was a standout member of the Warhawk gymnastics team, winning
an individual national title on the vault in 2023.
“We know the news of Kara’s death is heartbreaking for our
close-knit university community.
“It is a time when we are all called upon to support one
another, to process, and to grieve.”
He added that the school’s flag will fly at half-staff in
Welsh’s memory Sept. 3, when the fall semester begins.
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