Colorado Springs shooting: Man who shot six people at birthday party before killing himself ‘was upset he hadn’t been invited’

Watch: Colorado Springs shooting suspect killed 6 after not being invited to family party, police say

A man who fatally shot six people at a Colorado birthday party before killing himself was upset after not being invited to the weekend gathering thrown by his girlfriend's family, police have revealed.

The shooter, Teodoro Macias, 28, had been in a relationship with one of the victims, Sandra Ibarra, also 28, for about a year and had a history of controlling and jealous behaviour, Colorado Springs police Lt. Joe Frabbiele told a news conference.

"At the core of this horrific act is domestic violence," Police Chief Vince Niski said, adding that the gunman had "displayed power and control issues" in the relationship. About a week before the shooting, there was another family gathering where there "was some sort of conflict" between the family and Macias, Mr Niski said.

The other victims of the shooting early on Sunday were Ms Ibarra's extended family. They were identified as Melvin Perez, 30; Mayra Ibarra de Perez, 33; Joana Cruz, 52; Jose Gutierrez, 21; and Jose Ibarra, 26.

The shooting occurred at a home in the Canterbury Mobile Home Park on the east side of Colorado’s second-largest city. Three children at the party, ages two, five and 11, were not hurt.

Two families were celebrating the birthdays of family members, and 10 people were inside the home when the gunman arrived “and shot all six victims in quick succession” before turning the gun on himself, Mr Frabbiele said. The children inside were in “close proximity” to the shots fired, he said.

Investigators do not know yet how the shooter got the weapon, which Mr Frabbiele described as a Smith & Wesson handgun. He said it was originally purchased by someone else in 2014 at a local gun store but was not reported stolen. The gunman had two 15-round magazines, one of which was empty, and police recovered 17 spent shells at the scene.

"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 theatre, but let's not forget about the lethality of domestic violence," Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers said.

Mr Suthers was referring to a March 22 attack on a King Soopers supermarket in Boulder, Colorado, that killed 10 people, including a police officer, and a 2012 shooting at a cinema in the Denver suburb of Aurora that killed 12 and injured 70.

"What we have here is a situation where all these people were together and (we) apparently had the anger directed at the adults and his partner. And the tragic consequences are unfathomable. We've got children orphaned by this situation," he said.

Before the Colorado Springs shooting, a database compiled by The Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University showed there had been at least 11 mass shootings since January 1, compared with just two public mass shootings in 2020.

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo News UK

Read More

Human remains found in bears after woman fatally attacked in Colorado

Israel declares emergency in Lod amid rioting as conflict intensifies

Best pictures of the day