INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

Noah Jacob Harpham: Colorado Springs Gunman Identified

By Lindsay McCane
Published on: 13:17 PST, Nov 2, 2015

Earlier this week, a Colorado Springs shooting spree left four people dead, including the gunman. Now, a law enforcement official has identified the name of the shooter.

While the official with direct knowledge of the investigation was not able to speak about it publicly, on Monday, he confirmed the identity of the shooter, under the condition of anonymity, as 33-year-old Noah Jacob Harpham, a recovering alcoholic, CBS News reports.

Eyewitnesses reported seeing Harpham with a rifle in one hand and a revolver in the other as he walked down the Colorado Springs street on Saturday. According to a previous report by the Inquisitr, Matt Abshire, 21, who lives in the neighborhood where the massacre took place, heard gunshots fired shortly before 9:00 a.m. He looked out his window and saw the man walking down the street and started following him.

“I looked out my kitchen window and I saw a man in a green jacket firing an AR-15…waited a few seconds, went out of my house, looked to my left and saw a man down the street, probably 50 feet,” Abshire recalled. “I started following him and I called the cops.”

The first victim to die at the hands of Harpham was a bicyclist who begged for his life. The bicyclist’s pleading didn’t phase Harpham, who coldly and without speaking pulled the trigger several times, leaving the man lying face down in a pool of blood with his backpack still on his back. Noah Harpham then walked nearly a half a mile down the street before he shot two women who were sitting on the front porch of a sober living home.

“Still following him, he’s heading left on Platte towards Palmer High School… probably a hundred yards past El Paso Street he stops, turns to his left, fires four shots, shoots two ladies, one in the jaw, one in the chest if I’m not mistaken,” Abshire continued, adding that he tried to help one of the women, but when he checked her pulse, she was already dead.

Noah Harpham continued walking down the road, and eventually met up with the police near a Wendy’s restaurant. Harpham opened fire at the police cruiser, and in return, the officers fired at him, killing him in the shootout.

The identities of the victims and the shooter have not officially been released by the police, pending the completion of autopsies. The police do not currently have a motive for the shootings, and the Colorado Springs Police Department and El Paso County Sheriff’s Department are currently investigating. However, it was reported that Noah had written a blog post prior to his rampage, discussing his disgust with his father for his connection to a church in California.

Colorado Springs mayor John Suthers issued a statement Monday regarding the shooting spree, KKTV 11 News reports.

“The Colorado Springs community suffered a terrible tragedy on Saturday morning with the shooting deaths of three innocent victims. The perpetrator was shot by police and there is no continuing threat to the community,” the statement read. “However, on behalf of all the citizens of Colorado Springs, I want to convey our heartfelt sympathies to the families and friends of the victims of this crime. I am gratified that neighbors and neighborhood organizations in the area of the crime have rallied to honor the victims and support their families and friends.”

On Sunday night, people in the neighborhood gathered together for a candlelight vigil to honor the victims who lost their lives.

[Photo via Shutterstock]

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