by Hitoru » Thu Feb 03, 2011 9:16 pm
Cops Baffled by Twins' Double Shooting at Colo. Shooting Range.
Family members of two Australian twins shot at a Colorado gun range are traveling to the U.S. to determine which of the women is dead, after a mysterious double-shooting that has baffled investigators.
Both of them were shot in the head. One died instantly and the other was rushed to a hospital in critical condition where she has been unable to talk to investigators since the shooting Monday.
Police have been unable to determine which of the identical twins, 29, was killed or how the shootings occurred.
Police are unsure of who shot the gun, or guns, whether the women each shot themselves, shot each other, or if one shot her sister and then herself.
"We don't know what happened. Each new piece of information creates a new possibility," said Capt. Louie Perea, spokesman for the Arapahoe County Sheriff.
"The unfortunate thing is there is video, but it doesn't show the shooting, just the women falling in the stall. The shooting was not captured," he said.
The women, whose names won't be released until it's clear which one was killed, were simultaneously shot Monday after renting pistols at the eerily named Family Shooting Center in Cherry Creek State Park, south of Denver.
Both women rented small-caliber pistols and were inside the same shooting stall at the range. Surveillance video from the scene shows both women falling out of the booth simultaneously, but the camera did not capture the shooting.
"There is no one else nearby," Perea said. "No one appears to be walking towards the stall or away from it. They were the only two individuals in the stall."
Perea said the evidence found at the scene was too complicated to determine what took place and will require additional testing.
"The crime lab is processing all the evidence and it could take weeks," Perea said. "The coroner has yet to finish his report. There could be additional ballistics tests, if need be."
It appeared that neither women was killed by a single stray bullet from a third shooter, he said.
Twins identified in suicide pact at shooting range
DENVER, Colo. -- FOX31 has confirmed the names of the twin sisters from Australia as 29-year-olds Candace and Kristin Hermeler of Victoria, Australia. It is not known which twin survived and which twin died in the incident.
Authorities have determined that it was a suicide pact between twin sisters that left one dead and the other in critical condition following a double shooting at the Cherry Creek State Park shooting range on Nov. 15.
Relatives of the 29-year-old identical twin sisters from Australia who were shot at the Cherry Creek State Park shooting range are on their way to the United States to identify which one is dead, the Australian newspaper Herald Sun reports.
"They have similar appearance, they have head wounds. So you have to take all that into consideration and one thing we want to do is... be 100 percent definite that we know the true identity of them before we release information on them," said Capt. Louie Perea, from the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office.
Surveillance cameras at the Family Shooting Center show the sisters falling backwards out of their stall at the same time, investigators said.
No one else was present and no suspects were being sought, authorities said.
“Everything seemed normal and fine. And then all of the sudden they were on the ground,” said Doug Hamilton, owner of Family Shooting Center.
Hamilton said the women, whose names were not released as of Wednesday, had been shooting at the range for roughly an hour-and-a-half before the incident and had visited the range before.
“This was clearly not the first time they had shot, but they also clearly were not among my expert shooters here,” Hamilton said.
Investigators are trying to determine if the sisters shot themselves at the same time, shot each other at the same time, of if one sister shot the other before turning the gun on herself.
Authorities are not ruling out the possibility it was an accident.
"We definitely want to be open-minded. We want to make sure we do a thorough complete investigation and once we feel comfortable enough to lean one way or another then obviously that's the direction we'll take," said Perea.
One twin died instantly. The other sustained a gunshot wound to the head and was listed in stable condition at Swedish Medical Center in Englewood, Colorado Wednesday afternoon.
The sisters were in the United States on cultural exchange visas and one was due to return to Australia Tuesday, authorities said.
What are you? Some short sighted trigger puller? - RR3 .
Mr.wRong.