Wisconsin gunman’s girlfriend: He suffered from depression
May 6, 2015, 4:50 PM
Stacey Peterson and Jim Omsberg pause at a memorial in the pavilion on the re-opened Trestle Trail, on the east side of the trail near Fritse Park, Tuesday May 5, 2015 in the Town of Menasha, Wis. A shooting spree that resulted in four fatalities and one person injured occurred on the Fox Cities Trestle Trail bridge in Menasha Sunday night May 3, 2015 in Menasha, Wis. (Wm.Glasheen/The Post-Crescent via AP) NO SALES
(Wm.Glasheen/The Post-Crescent via AP)
MENASHA, Wis. (AP) — An eastern Wisconsin man who randomly shot and killed three people and wounded another before taking his own life was irrational and suffered from depression, his girlfriend said.
Police say Haylie Peterson and Sergio Valencia del Toro argued Sunday evening, a couple of hours before he headed to the Fox Cities Trestle Trail bridge and fatally shot Jon Stoffel, his 11-year-old daughter, Olivia, and Adam Bentdahl.
Stoffel’s wife, Erin, was wounded in the shooting and is hospitalized in serious condition.
Valencia del Toro then turned the gun on himself and died at a hospital Sunday night.
In autopsy results released Wednesday, police said Jon Stoffel was shot seven times, Olivia three times and her mother three times. Bentdahl was shot once.
Peterson, 24, said she had expressed concern to Valencia del Toro about his depression that evening, but that she then went out, leaving him at the house they shared in Menasha, so they could both cool off.
“I left because we agreed we both needed time to process our emotions,” she told Post-Crescent Media Tuesday (http://post.cr/1E89hHW ).
Peterson said when she returned home later Sunday, Valencia del Toro was gone and weapons were missing from the house. She said she went to the east end of the bridge after learning about the commotion there.
“I sensed it,” Peterson said. “I just had a bad feeling and went down there. I can’t explain it.”
She said she saw medical personnel carry Valencia del Toro off the bridge on a stretcher. When she recognized him, she cried out and fell to the ground, she said.
Peterson released a statement Tuesday on behalf of her family and Valencia del Toro’s family expressing sympathy for the family and friends of the Stoffels and Bentdahl.
“We mourn and grieve with you and for all affected by this,” the statement said.
A police investigation continues.
Valencia del Toro was a second-semester freshman at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
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Information from: Post-Crescent Media, http://www.postcrescent.com
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