LOGAN, Utah – A 23-year-old member of the Utah Army National Guard killed a Utah State University student and one other person early Monday at an apartment near campus before fleeing and fatally shooting himself at another home, police said.
Shortly after midnight, Jared Tolman apparently kicked down the door of the apartment two blocks from the university in the northern Utah city of Logan. He fired multiple times on a 26-year-old man and a 19-year-old sociology major, both people he knew, Logan Police Chief Gary Jensen said.
Officers responding to 911 calls found Mackenzie Madden and Johnathon Jacob Sadler dead inside the unit.
The gunman exchanged text messages with Madden shortly before the shootings, police told the Salt Lake Tribune. They gave no further details on the messages.
Authorities believe the shooter fled from the building to another home a few miles away in west Logan. They received a 911 call a little before 1 a.m. reporting gunshots at the home, where they found Tolman dead.
Tolman did not live at that address, Jensen said, but had friends there. Two other people were in the home at the time and called authorities.
Logan police said the same gun was used in all three shootings. They did not confirm whether Tolman owned the gun, but said it was not a government-issued weapon.
Tolman joined the National Guard in 2009, said Guard spokesman Stephen Fairbourn. He was assigned to a support battalion for the 19th Special Forces Unit, where his chief duty was handling laundry. Tolman had no history of disciplinary issues, Fairbourn said.
Madden, a sociology and psychology student, interned with Logan police in fall 2013, where she compiled research on active shooter situations, Logan police Lt. Brad Franke said.
"She wanted to save the world. I'm personally just shocked and saddened by this terrible loss," he said. "She was a great kid."
The university functioned as normal Monday, spokesman Tim Vitale said.
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