Updated

A soldier who returned from Iraq nine days earlier apparently shot and killed his wife and then himself at their home near Fort Collins (search), Army officials said Thursday.

Pfc. Stephen S. Sherwood (search), 36, and his wife were found dead Wednesday, Army spokeswoman Dee McNutt said. The wife's name was not released.

The couple's 8-month-old child was in the care of a neighbor, who reported hearing gunshots at about 3:45 p.m. Wednesday, said Eloise Campanella, a spokeswoman for the Larimer County (search) sheriff. Investigators had not determined a motive.

Sherwood had returned from Iraq on July 25 after spending nearly a year there and was on leave at the time of the shootings, McNutt said.

He was a cannon crew member in the 2nd Brigade Combat Team based at Fort Carson but had a home in Fort Collins, a city about 130 miles north of the post, she said.

Sherwood enlisted in the Army in January 2004, McNutt said.

Steve Johnson, a neighbor since 1997, said Sherwood told him Tuesday he and his wife "were having a hard time" over their plans to move to Colorado Springs, adjacent to Fort Carson.

"She was not looking forward to moving," Johnson said.

The 2nd Brigade Combat Team lost 68 soldiers during its tour in Iraq. Sherwood was at least the second Fort Carson-based soldier to commit suicide shortly after serving there.